NCGA: No reasonable expectation of privacy while on public street? (Um, Fourth Amendment?) | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton uses the words of others, in part, to remind us of that government, unchecked, can be become a terrific burden upon our freedoms in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    I am seriously #SMH on this one:

    [...] Sen. Tamara Barringer, a Cary Republican who is also a law professor, said there is a right to privacy but not always a reasonable expectation of that privacy.

    "I abhor government intervention, but I will support the bill. I don't think we have a reasonable expectation of privacy when we're on a public street," she said. [...]

    OK. I guess she won't mind me rifling through her purse the next time I see her walking down a public sidewalk.

    That was an example of the kind of commentary we got during debate on traffic cameras in the North Carolina Senate. Thankfully, we got some common sense from Barringer's fellow Republicans Tom Apodaca and Thom Goolsby:

    Law enforcement agencies are increasingly using the latest technology to take automated roadside snapshots of license plates in order to catch wanted criminals and other suspected violators.

    Turns out the state Department of Transportation doesn't have the legal authority to allow them to use state-owned right-of-ways. A bill to accomplish that has been slow-poking its way through the legislature since last year. It finally received a full airing on the Senate floor Wednesday.

    The bill ran into unexpected opposition over privacy concerns, which led to a split among GOP senators. More Republicans voted against the bill tbiggovthan for it, but thanks to unanimous support from Democrats it was preliminarily approved on a 29-18 vote. Update: A final vote was scheduled for Thursday, but moved to Monday.[...]

    "I hate this bill," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Republican from Hendersvonville. "A machine is going to take a picture of your car, tell you if got insurance or not. I know it's way past 1984, but it sounds like we're going back."

    Sen. Thom Goolsby, a Wilmington Republican, said he was concerned about the growth of government surveillance at a time when crime is actually decreasing in North Carolina.

    "I'm operating legally on a road I paid for as a citizen, monitored by some nameless, faceless bureaucrat to see where I'm going," Goolsby said would be the outcome.