-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- <snip> PLEASE NOTE: IANAL either [yet] But, MONTY HARDER wrote:
[Please do not start an abortion flamefest on the list. If you want to argue it via Imail, I can handle that, but let's not bother the rest of the class, OK?]
I agree, and this post has nothing to do with that controversy [I hope].
The Supremes found the right to have an abortion in some kind of "penumbral" right to <BOLD> privacy </BOLD>, which in turn came from Griswold v. Connecticut, if organic RAM serves. Given this precedent, may we challenge anti-crypto crap such as the Grassley Bill as a violation of the right to privacy?
Good idea, but I have an idea to upset even *more* people. First of all, has anyone else noticed how the Republicans have placed life-and-death emphasis lately on the oft-ignored 10th Amendment. Amendment X -- "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." IMO, the Republicans will continue to do this as long as they can win the overwhelming majority of governorships, which is for the foreseeable future. Democrats, of course, don't like this and prefer unconstrained federal power [preferably in the hands of someone other than Newt, though]. There is, however, another Amendment which goes beyond being oft-ignored to the status of being truly forgotten, without ever having been repealed. Amendment IX -- "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." [The right to write code was among many rights NOT enumerated.] Republicans AND Democrats ALL HATE the 9th Amendment, which is the primary reason *I* like it so much. Various lawyers, judges, and [especially] law professors will sputter that the 9th is "impertinent!" or "irrelevant!" and should be ignored, and Jim Ray is just spouting off [again] about the slow erosion of freedom in this country. My rejoinder is "OK, if we're supposed to ignore it, why not just REPEAL it, after all, it's just sitting there doing nothing, cluttering up the rest of the Bill of Rights." Usually, conversation [and, I suspect, my eventual grade] degenerates at this point. Those C-punks not in law school, however, should keep the 9th in mind when talking about Constitutional issues on encryption rights, if for no other reason than to educate the public. In court, of course, I would concentrate on the 1st. Apologies to the various lurking law professors on the list, I am not talking about you. Also, this diatribe is mere academic speculation and not a legal opinion and IANAL and I have been known to be wrong in the past and I no-doubt will be wrong again in the future and most people in the legal profession think this is wrong so don't rely on it and your lawyer will think you are crazy if you say this to him (so don't) and so on and so on... JMR
<snip> Regards, Jim Ray "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." Voltaire - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PGP key Fingerprint 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE 53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8 Key id. # E9BD6D35 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support the Phil Zimmermann (Author of PGP) Legal Defense Fund! email: zldf@clark.net or visit http://www.netresponse.com/zldf ________________________________________________________________________ - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMAlYGCoZzwIn1bdtAQFAvAF/U/0u/BjNThGjDeeOsv5CujcJcFBKf5Hx +SsUFAwYyD5I5DWosWA0iTZesc/DO3UR =bAZm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----