Some Justice (Good News from the Federal Courts)

After an appalling week of Supreme Court decisions (see here and here), a US District Court decided to allow David House, a friend of Bradley Manning and a co-founder of The Bradley Manning Support Network, to continue with his lawsuit against the government and rebuked the government's request to have the lawsuit thrown out of court for national security reasons.

The background of the case is as follows; David House, a US Citizen, has been stopped by the Department of Homeland Security several times when he has returned this country.  During one of these stops, DHS agents repeatedly asked him about his political beliefs, specifically relating to his work with the The Bradley Manning Support Network, and confiscated his laptop, zip-drive, and cellphone, all without a warrant.  After seven weeks, he finally had his property returned to him, with the government saying that it took much longer than it had anticipated because their agents were unfamiliar with the computer's operating system.

At no time during this ordeal has the government accused David House of any criminal activity.  Even during Houses questioning by DHS agents, the government was only concerned about his involvement in a group whose aim was to raise money for Bradley Manning's defense and speak out against Manning's detainment.  Both of those aims fall well under the protection of the First Amendment.  Any person with a basic understanding of constitutional law and relevant Supreme Court precedent knows that the government is not allowed to punish people for political speech.  Unfortunately, Obama's Department of Justice, much like his predecessor's, just clearly does not give a shit about constitutional rights.  Especially when the can easily scream "Terrorism" and hope that federal judges decide to throw the case out of the courts.