I need to discuss with the reader the concept of bleed-over. In the War on Drugs, this is a concept where lousy constitutional law from the drug war moves into other law enforcement areas and vice versa. In this case, I read a story about child pornography and some terrible law that the U.S. Attorney's Office is seeking to put in place that, frankly, scares the hell out of me. Here is a link to the story.
The summary is this: the government is prosecuting a man in Vermont it suspects of having child pornography on his computer. However, he has a directory on his computer that is labeled Z which is encrypted with PGP technology. There are no back doors into it - only a password will open it. Government investigators ordered the suspect to open it. He has refused to give them the password. A federal judge has already ruled that ordering the man to open the drive could
potentially lead to self-incrimination, and the judge will not compel him to open it. The government has appealed...guess why? Once again, the terrorist boogeyman raises his head. Terrorists could use PGP to conceal their plans, and thus national security concerns should trump the individual's constitutional rights.
And just how long do you think it will be before a DEA agent tries to compel a drug dealer to open the hard drive on his computer to obtain evidence? Sorry to say, but I am siding with the pervert on this one. And I do not care how many barbs are thrown at me for this.
That amazing document, the Bill of Rights, was designed to stand the test of time. And every person - I do not care who you name - has a fundamental right not to be a witness against himself in a criminal proceeding under those same rights. I do not care what you say - if you cannot see that the government will only get the Z drive info by having this pervert in Vermont enter his secret password, and if you cannot see that this will create a situation where this person is being a witness against himself - I cannot help you.
The one key point that everyone forgets in this modern, fast-paced age is that if the constitutional
rights are impinging law enforcement in its efforts to fight terrorists, perverts, etc., etc., there is a way to get more favorable rules for cops. It's called amending the Constitution. Simply get it amended and change the rules on self-incrimination.
Aha! you might say, Changing the Constitution is incredibly hard and takes a long time. And I would agree with you...but you know what? THAT IS THE DAMN WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE! DEAL WITH IT! It is not impossible, just difficult. If everyday Joe Blow has to follow the laws, government prosecutors should, too.
I hope the U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont drops this tactic to get the goods on the guy. This stinks. Prosecutors not only have a duty to get convictions, but they have a higher duty to do substantial justice. Stepping all over a defendant's self-incrimination rights is not doing the people's business.
