Recent Michigan Supreme Court Ruling is Baffling: Is a Homeowner's Front Porch His Property, or is it Public Property?

The Michigan Court of Appeals issued a ruling last month that seems strange.

It concerned a case where a drug sniffing dog accompanied a police officer to a person's house in Detroit; the dog indicated the presence of drugs inside the home from on the person's front porch. The police officer then entered and made arrests.

I have no problem with the drug bust itself.

But one of the arguments made during the trial and appeal was that the use of the dog without a search warrant was illegal. Kyllo vs. US (2001), a U.S. Supreme Court case, established that using a thermal imaging device outside a person's home to detect heat lamps used to grow weed without a search warrant was illegal.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that dog sniffing dogs are outside the bounds of 4th Amendment protection, and that a person's front porch is public property, not private.

This makes no sense. Even if a person's front porch is considered to be public property, to get to it one has to trespass on the land between the road, which is public, and the house, which sits on private property.

This ruling threatens the property rights of homeowners. The police should have a search warrant for a drug bust; how hard can it be to talk to a judge to issue such a warrant?

The police should cover all their bases and do the extra paperwork. An operation like the one they broke up won't disappear overnight; it'll be there when they arrive with the warrant.

Two Border Agents Not on Presidential Pardon List: They Should Have Been

Two border security agents who shot a Mexican drug smuggler who was attempting a felony escape remain behind bars as President Bush pardoned fifteen convicted criminals and commuted the sentence of another drug fiend.

Border agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos were not on President Bush's list; they should have been. They were doing their jobs; the only thing that they are guilty of is "denial of trade" with regards to the smuggler. He was over here selling his 800 pounds of weed and disobeyed a lawful order to halt.

Instead, the government treated the smuggler for his rear-end wound, and offered him complete immunity in exchange for his testimony against the two agents.

This miscarriage of justice continues.

And it should be noted that after these two Border Patrol agents were sent to prison to begin their sentences on January 17, 2007, the drug fiend Aldrete Dávila was subsequently arrested on the border for his continuing drug smuggling operations on November 15, 2007. He faces forty years. That's the charge that should have been filed IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Presidential Pardon for Two Border Patrol Agents is a Great Idea: They Did Their Jobs

There has been a stir since August over the fate of two former Border Patrol agents who were forced to shoot a drug smuggler as he brought his poisons over the border from Mexico into the United States.

Former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were in pursuit of the suspect and believed he had a weapon and shot him in the buttocks to keep him from escaping, while in the course of their duties.

Charges were brought against the two agents; when they were convicted a couple of months ago, the department dismissed them. They were subsequently sentenced to 11-12 years for the shooting.

In addition, the drug fiend is suing the Border Patrol for $5 million. For what, denial of trade? He's lucky that the agents didn't hit him somewhere more vital and that he's still alive. The feds already paid his medical bills; that should be more than enough for a foreign drug smuggler who was engaged in breaking our laws and bringing his filthy poisons with him.

The convictions of the ex-border agents should be pardoned as soon as possible. 48 Senators and Representatives sent a letter to President Bush asking for his consideration. I hope he listens.