IP: Michigan cops get to search homes without revealing why

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>

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Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 13:00:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Naomi Lopez Bauman <naomi_lopez_bauman@yahoo.com>
Subject: Home Searches in Michigan
To: politech@politechbot.com

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3936063&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=46
7992&rfi=6

    April 24, 2002
    The state Legislature has given police power to search your home
    without telling you why.
    Two new laws, which took effect Monday as part of anti-terror efforts,
    also shield from public scrutiny the reasons for police searches.

    Defense lawyers and civil libertarians are outraged at the laws, which
    make search warrants and supporting documents such as affidavits
    non-public records.

    "If you think the police did secretive work before, just wait,"
    defense attorney William Cataldo said. "It gives more power to the
    ignorant and more power to those who would take your rights."

    Defense lawyer Walter Piszczatowski said: "This is nuts, this is
    beyond nuts.

    "What happened to the Fourth Amendment? We're living in a police
    state."

    That means the public, the press, and in some cases even the person
    accused of the crime, can't know why the police entered a home without
    permission.

    [...]

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