Hello:

You know how the wingers SAY they want small government, all the while supporting our record as the worlds largest jailer... Yup, we even have more convicts than those miserable, civil rights hating tyrants, the Chinese, whose population is FIVE times greater than ours.. But, I digress...

The small government wingers also think the HUGE growth in domestic spying by our government is just hunky dory too. I'm sure they'll think I'm nuts for suggesting that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution means what it says... But, when you let the government think it can read your email and listen to your phone calls without a warrant, it shouldn't be surprising that they don't stop there. You didn't think it would, did you?? You DID?? And, you call yourself a winger?? But, I digress once again...

The ACLU revealed that in the 18-month period beginning October 1, 2008, more than 6,600 people - roughly half of whom are American citizens - were subjected to electronic device searches at the border by Homeland Security, all without a search warrant. Many have had their laptops and cell phones confiscated and NEVER returned. The rest have had the contents of their memory copied and stored for who knows what?

Is this cool with you?? You're happy with that level of government intrusion into your life by people who promote SMALL GOVERNMENT??

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know.. You'll say they'll NEVER search me. I'm a staunch American. They're only searching bad guys. And, if they do copy the memory from my laptop, I don't care. I've got nothing to hide...

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

excon

Is it a violation of the Constitution to have your belongings inspected at the border ? Millions of travellers come into the country annually from outside the country(many of them US citizens)... have their personal belongings inspected prior to entry .Yet only a small handful had their computers searched of the millions who carried them in their travels .
This is a policy 1st introduced in July 2008 .Napolitano revised it in 2009 leaving the essential policy in place.
DHS: Secretary Napolitano Announces New Directives on Border Searches of Electronic Media

Unless you think that all border inspections are unconstitutional then I don't see your point of this rant.

Even the ACLU doesn't object .They just think
That "border agents should have some suspicion that the search will turn up evidence of wrongdoing."
Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU Challenges Laptop Searches and Seizures at the Border

Did the agent have reason to suspect ? Here is the plaintiff the ACLU represents

Quote:

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Pascal Abidor, a 26-year old U.S. and French dual citizen and doctoral student whose laptop and external hard drive were searched last May after Abidor crossed back into the United States on a train from Canada.

A CBP official named "Officer Tulip" had her interest piquéd in Abidor when he told the agent that he is a student of Islamic studies at McGill University in Montreal, and that he had traveled to Jordan and Lebanon on his French passport, the lawsuit states. Tulip became more suspicious when Abidor voluntarily turned on his laptop to reveal stored images that included pictures of Hamas and Hezbollah rallies.Abidor was ordered off the train and kept in detention for three hours, but his laptop and external hard drive were denied to him for 11 days and came back showing obvious signs of searching.

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ACLU files suit against suspicionless laptop searches at U.S. borders - FierceGovernmentIT

As the site linked points out... even the most liberal court in the nation ,the 9th Circus Court of Appeals has upheld this policy.