As A Public Service

Having noticed that a number of Congresscritters seem to woefully uninformed on these matters I thought I would quote the relevant portions of the US Constitution.

The US Constitution defines “treason” in Article III, Section 3:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

Congress doesn’t get to redefine it without a Constitutional amendment. The reason is simple – the people who wrote the Constitution had deal with a treason law at a time when losing your head over a beautiful queen was not a metaphor.

Then there is the second bit the Congresscritters are having real problems with – Fourth Amendment which says:

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.

There has been a suggestion that because things like e-mail are sent through a separate entity, you have no expectation of privacy. I’m sorry, but that is just ignorant. You need a password to access your e-mail account, as well as many other services on the Internet. The requirement for a password is a rather obvious indication that such things are private.