Loss of Privacy

From the New York Times:

An overlapping array of justices were divided on the rationale for the decision, with the majority saying the problem was the placement of the device on private property.

But five justices also discussed their discomfort with the government’s use of or access to various modern technologies, including video surveillance in public places, automatic toll collection systems on highways, devices that allow motorists to signal for roadside assistance, location data from cellphone towers and records kept by online merchants.

You can read the opinion at the supreme court [pdf] .

If you want to buy drain cleaner or any other caustic solution products in Illinois, you’ll now have to show a photo ID.

Non-compliance results in fines: $150 for the first offense, $500 for the second and up to $1,500 for the third and subsequent violations.

Schroeder estimated that there are “easily” 30 or more products in the store that must be reported when sold.

The law, which took effect Sunday, requires those who seek to buy caustic or noxious substances, except for batteries, to provide government-issued photo identification that shows their name and date of birth. The cashier then must log the name and address, the date and time of the purchase, the type of product, the brand and even the net weight.

State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) obtained passage of the new law following attacks in which drain cleaner was poured on two Chicago women, badly scarring them.

Two attacks. Out of the millions of people who live in the state of Illinois were attacked. Now there is a knee-jerk reaction law because of it.

There is no way to be able to track all of the items listed in the law. In the attack on the Chicago women, the men who committed the crime were caught and prosecuted. There is no necessity for this law.

Just wait until they figure out what a person can do with matches and gasoline. Then, you’ll have to register every time you fill up your tank. Then they’ll start logging spray paint because they will stop graffiti too.

This new law is from the same state that say you don’t need a photo ID to vote because it’s a violation of a person’s civil rights and discrimination against the poor to have to show ID. However, you’ll need that photo ID to purchase drain cleaner, cold medicine, cigarettes, and/or alcohol.

Laurence H. Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard University.

Tribe Legis Memo on SOPA 12-6-11 1

When the officer asked if he knew why the police were talking to him I would have said yes, but it is not this guy’s fault that someone freaked out and called the cops because he was walking down the street legally. It is the job of a citizen to know the law. Obviously, the person who called the cops doesn’t know the law or what rights they have as a citizen.

A new poster from the ACLU.