US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone

[enso]

@anotherone

Our customs and border control have gone off the rails. No edict, piece of paper, ruling, or otherwise has the power to remove or nullify your constitutional protections. Nothing can be taken from you without due process.

At least two federal judges have disagreed with you.

[Snowlark]

@anotherone

No edict, piece of paper, ruling, or otherwise has the power to remove or nullify your constitutional protections. Nothing can be taken from you without due process.

Ink on paper. The brazen power-hungry understand this. Rule by decree or fist, whichever’s more expedient. Lately, they seem to choosing ‘fist’. They do not care about any of the implicit 'should’s in your comment. With sufficient power, they don’t have to.

Laws cannot save us. Only we the people can do that.

[JonCrisp]

Have you been asleep? This has been literally, legally , true for over a decade now.

I’ve never been a fan of security theater and, yes, I’ve been paying attention, but it certainly seems to have gotten significantly worse over the timeframe also.

[Gyrofrog]

@Malarkey

Let me guess: He does climate research?

Possible, but JPL is more about Deep Space. I work at Goddard where there are (at least) three buildings in which most of the work has to do with earth science or climate science. I can’t help but wonder what those three buildings* are going to be like once the new NASA Administrator is installed.
*(And for that matter, the rest of the Center.)

@LutherBlisset

But their NASA counterparts don’t encrypt, either, as far as I was able to learn.

I’m a contractor, not an employee, but I use encrypted email quite a bit. However, while there are some things that I know should always be encrypted, there are other situations where I’ve just relied on my own judgment and figured “this should probably be encrypted,” and did so.

[LutherBlisset]

@AcerPlatanoides

I think that’s a different matter from having to unlock your phone.

True.

I was just surprised in the first place that NASA apparently took this seriously and issued a new phone. As I stated above, at least in my contact’s case AFAIR neither NASA nor their co-operators on this side of the Atlantic worry about information (including stuff going to be patented) are exchanged over the interwebz, unencrypted.

@AcerPlatanoides

It’s the whole agency vs. individual aspect that has me bothered.

Well, I would have guessed there would be a protocol/process for this, too. Maybe there is, but we won’t find out in this example?

[anotherone]

I don’t think relying fully in the good faith of our judicial branch is the best idea. After all, they seem to believe in contempt of court whereby they can jail you without a trial while at the same time being both accuser and judge. Being a federal judge confers no special gift of good judgement. It does however usually indicate that the judge has made the right people happy in order to further their career.

Remember, our Bill of Rights is intended as a list of restrictions upon government powers. The government cannot decide to overstep their powers just because a couple of judges say it is ok. That it has is not in question. That it does not have the legal authority under our constitution to do so isn’t either.

[anon68952647]

@LutherBlisset

Well, I would have guessed there would be a protocol/process for this, too.

that there was not is the actual point I was making. That’s troubling, very very much so.

Unprofessional.

[enso]

@anotherone

I don’t think relying fully in the good faith of our judicial branch is the best idea

I certainly didn’t advocate that we should. I simply pointed out that at least two judges in two cases have disagreed, which sets some legal precedent for what customs can get away with…

[Wanderfound]

@enso

I certainly didn’t advocate that we should. I simply pointed out that at least two judges in two cases have disagreed, which sets some legal precedent for what customs can get away with…

But that legal precedent is toothless if the border goons ignore it. Doubly so when the folks who are supposed to intervene on the court’s behalf are also abandoning their duties.

U.S. Marshals Accused Of Not Serving Court Orders About Immigration Ban

[enso]

@Wanderfound

But that legal precedent is toothless if the border goons ignore it.

You’ve got it backwards. The legal precedent is what agreed that the goons at the border could search your devices or take them away if you don’t comply. They also established that they can’t make you input a PIN but they can make you put your fingerprint on a reader.