November 2005 Archives
Unfortunately, I'm not bright enough (or sufficiently focused) to have this kind of stuff just flow from my skull, fully formed like the goddess Athena. I probably started kicking around these ideas last summer with my wife as we watched yet another insipid "culture wars" debate on the Sunday morning talk shows. I had already started another blog at that point, but it took a couple more months to get to the point where I was ready to complain publicly. Now, of course, I've started this separate site, since I didn't want to hijack my technology-music-flotsam blog with extended philosophical rants on constitutional law.
Anyway, those first couple posts are sufficiently relevant that I've decided to repeat them here (after the jump) for continuity.
One last note -- the sub-head to this site will always contain my most-recent draft of a proposed Constitutional amendment. So far, I've only written one... but I hope that in the course of writing this site (and considering whatever else is happening in the world), I'll be able to improve on that initial cut.
Let's get a few things down at the outset...
1. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and this site will be focused primarily on privacy issues in the US.
2. I am not a privacy absolutist or libertarian. I recognize and believe that there are valid abrogations of personal privacy in support of the institution of the state.
3. I am a lawyer by trade, though not typically in the constitutional arena.
4. I believe that the Founding Fathers fully intended that privacy be among the unenumerated rights reserved (and preserved) to the people through the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution.
5. I am saddened and disheartened that we have reached a point in the cultural and political evolution of this country that there is any question whether privacy is an inherent right of each person or whether privacy is a right that should be protected under the Constitution.
6. Since personal privacy and autonomy is under attack, however, it's time to fight back. The one way to protect privacy once and for all is to amend the Constitution to enshrine a plainly-stated right to privacy for all persons within the borders of the country.
This site, for as long as I manage to keep it going, is dedicated to promoting the development and adoption of strong and effective privacy laws, all the way up to the supreme law of the land. Along the way, I expect to comment on various events and ideas that contribute to the discussion (whether positive or negative). I'm no expert on the subject, but I think we've got to start the wheels rolling before it's too late (assuming, of course, it's not already too late).
