Fourth Amendment

Lessig’s commentary on the Fourth Amendment, the protection from indiscriminate searches and general warrants, is very interesting. Lessig provides three different views on the value protected by the Fourth Amendment. The first value he comments on is the protection from the unjustified burden on an indiscriminate search. The second value is the protection of an offense to dignity caused by such a search. The third value is constraining the power of the state to regulate. Lessig argues that digital surveillance does not violate the first value, the protection from an unjustified burden, because the surveillance occurs without any burden at all to the person being watched unless significant evidence is found. The second value, however, is clearly violated. Lessig writes that dignity is not harmed if the state has justification to search before it does so. I believe that this is a slippery slope, and I would imagine that there are plenty of cases where searches have been “justified” by the state without really enough evidence to do so. A digital search, while most likely accompanied by good intentions, could be a serious invasion of privacy when performed on an innocent person. The third value, protection from the state, is a very complicated issue. Many people believe that the state has too much power, especially after legislation like the Patriot Act. The ability for the government to listen in on personal phone calls, monitor your internet and correspondence, and track people with GPS seems like a clear invasion of privacy. However, events like 9/11 make it impossible to keep the citizens of our nation safe without using such drastic measures. It seems cliché to say that “if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about,” but in many senses its true. On the other hand, even though I’m not plotting any terrorist plans on my phone calls and over my emails (or anywhere for that matter), the thought that someone could be monitoring me at any time is definitely not a good feeling.