Rights or Privledges

I’m glad to see that the Courts have decided that the 4th Amendment is a geographic privilege and not an actual right.

A federal appeals court in Manhattan upheld the convictions on Monday of three Al Qaeda operatives in a ruling that bolsters the government’s power to investigate terrorism by holding that a key Constitutional protection afforded to Americans does not apply overseas.

The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds for the first time that government agents may obtain admissible evidence against United States citizens through warrantless searches abroad.

Via: Appeals Court Backs Warrantless Searches Abroad - NYTimes.com

I just find it amazing that this can be claimed from a text that reads so simply:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

It seems the constitution has become virtually meaningless in the face of the law-and-order mentality at this time.