MKD Ars Praetorian
10y
433
Bash said:

As much as I'd love a future Democrat government to fix this fourth amendment violation, this is not a new policy as of our current president. The current administration may have 'invented' using this tactic for oppression and intimidation, but so far both the R's and the D's are in support of this violation of our constitutional rights.

"Both"? This goes back to Collection Act of 1789, so throw in some Fs (Federalists), Ws (for Washington and the Whigs), NR (National Republican), NU (National Union), and D-Rs (Democrat-Republicans) and those Founding Fathers in the first Congress who voted for it.

Section 24 of the Collection Act empowered inspectors by giving them the authority to execute a warrantless search of any maritime vessel for any undeclared cargo or merchandise that was not on the vessel's shipping manifest if they believed that the ship was concealing taxable items intended for sale. The Collection Act did not specify criteria for suspicion, apparently leaving this up to the individual customs agents to determine on a case-by-case basis. It allowed for appointed agents of the United States to detain and board any vessel in U.S. waters in an effort to discover undocumented cargo. Furthermore, if a search proved fruitful, agents could appropriate a warrant and perform a daytime search of any dwelling, house, storage facility, or other place if they believed operations defrauding the nation of revenue were occurring there.