The Invention of Religion - Derek R. Peterson

What led to the
Fourth Amendment's protection of the people against unreasonable
searches and seizures, codified in written law for the first time in
history, and are we in danger of losing that protection? Celebrated
lawyer Samuel Dash, known for his role as Chief Counsel of the Watergate
Committee, explores the struggle for privacy. He does so by telling the
dramatic tales of the people who were involved in influential legal
battles, including landmark Supreme Court cases.Covering
almost eight-hundred years of history, Dash begins with the time of
King John of England and the Magna Carta, then moves to colonial America
as colonists resisted searches mandated under King George. These
tensions contributed to the birth of the United States and the adoption
of our Bill of Rights with its Fourth Amendment, protecting people
against unreasonable searches and seizures.How
effective that protection has been is the story of the next two
centuries. Dash explores U.S. Supreme Court cases through the sometimes
humorous experiences of the people involved, including the unlucky
gambler with a shoplifting wife and the police lieutenant turned king of
bootleggers. To some extent, judicial safeguarding of Fourth Amendment
protections depended on who made up the majority of the Court at any
given time.By
2001 a conservative majority of the Court had given law enforcement
agents greater search powers than ever before. Dash challenges the legal
justification of the Bush Administration's grab for greater search,
seizure, and wiretap powers after the 9/11 terrorists' attacks. He
reminds us of government abuses of power in prior emergencies in
American history. For Dash, the best security is our belief in
individual liberty and the enforcement of our Bill of Rights.