Another wrong article: "Kiss the Fourth Amendment goodbye"
"Kiss the Fourth Amendment goodbye," posted today by Kathleen Baker, Denver Conservative Examiner, concludes that the Obama Administration granting diplomatic immunity to INTERPOL operating in the United States means that we can "Kiss the Fourth Amendment goodbye." Once again, a conservative watchdog gets it wrong, in their zeal to demonize the President.
She states: "In a nutshell, Obama granted INTERPOL authority to act within the United States without being subject to the Fourth Amendment ...." President Obama did nothing of the sort. Even if he did, it would be unconstitutional. And, if he did, wouldn't somebody else with more credibility have reported it before these guys?
President Reagan's Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983 first granted limited diplomatic immunity to INTERPOL, the same as, for example, parts of the United Nations. [Note: As a contractor for the U.N. in Sierra Leone 2004-06, I had the same immunities there under the country's treaty with the U.N.] On December 16th, the President amended that Executive Order to provide that INTERPOL has broader immunity from search by local, state, and federal government officers and taxes. See 22 U.S.C. § 288a:
Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.
So, where does it say that INTERPOL gets to act outside the Fourth Amendment? It doesn't. Nothing in the article or the statute it quotes says a word about it, except the writer's imagination and lack of reading comprehension. This is just wrong. Dead wrong. Even a commenter got on the bandwagon and agreed without critical analysis. Maybe even without reading. See also the PatriotRoom.com with a slightly different view.
The old early law career saw "RTFS" applies: Read The Frigging Statute.
Update: Agreeing with Baker is BenBarrack.com believing INTERPOL is a foreign police force to bring us to trial in the ICC.
Agreeing with me: This Ain't Hell.
Update 2: More loonies here. I would almost think that the Far Right can't read, or they are so morally corrupt they'll say anything. Either is pathetic.
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