1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I’m writing today in the troubling absence of our highest court that it is on YOU to protect Fourth Amendment rights that safeguard all Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures. The headlines are full of the erosions of these constitutional protections threaten the privacy and freedom that define our democracy. So to quote from your own book: The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be issued only upon probable cause and that searches and seizures be reasonable. This is not being done. The reason I must write is that legislative expansions of surveillance authority have also undermined these principles. For example: The USA Patriot Act, enacted after September 11, 2001, dramatically increased law enforcement access to email, telephonic communications, medical, financial, and library records. It expanded National Security Letters, which are administrative subpoenas requiring document production without warrants even when no crime is suspected. Most troublingly, the telephone metadata program under Section 215 allowed the NSA to conduct bulk collection of Americans' call data, which was ruled illegal in ACLU v. Clapper. While the USA Freedom Act of June 2, 2015 banned bulk collection of telephone records and internet metadata, significant concerns remain about the scope of government surveillance and the erosion of reasonable expectation of privacy. Electronic surveillance continues to expand with minimal oversight, and warrantless searches are increasingly justified under broad interpretations of exigent circumstances and national security exceptions. I ask you to champion legislation that strengthens Fourth Amendment protections by requiring robust probable cause standards for all searches, limiting the use of National Security Letters, ensuring judicial oversight of surveillance activities, and closing loopholes that permit warrantless access to digital communications and metadata. The exclusionary rule must remain strong to deter constitutional violations. As technology evolves and surveillance capabilities expand, we need representatives who will defend these fundamental rights rather than compromise them in the name of security. I urge you to stand firmly for Fourth Amendment protections that preserve both our safety and our freedom. Thank you.