Forget the NSA - Do You Want the Police Spying?

"A man's home is his castle," according to the old British saying. Apparently not so in Houston, where a man's home (or a woman's home, for that matter) will be an opportunity for police voyeurism. That is, if Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt gets his way.

He wants surveillance cameras in apartment complexes and private homes as a means to combat an unfortunate combination of hurricane refugees (150,000 or so), lots of officers retiring, and low numbers of recruits replacing these retirements.

Silly me. I thought the Fourth Amendment guaranteed:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Tags: Police , Civil Rights , Surveillance , Fourth Amendment