[From article]
John Adams wrote about James Otis’ fiery argument in court against the Writs of Assistance in 1761: “[T]he child independence was then and there born.” A 1783 eulogy poem written by Thomas Dawes described Otis as “first in patriot fame.”
The Writs of Assistance, a method of search and seizure known as “general warrants,” were authorized by Parliament. Otis nevertheless called these institutionalized violations of liberty “illegal.”
[. . .]
Today, the principles of law and liberty argued by Otis are being ignored by America’s soft police state, which uses mass surveillance to violate our property rights and privacy, and other more targeted administrative search and seizure tools to suppress rights of commerce and conscience.
A recent Supreme Court decision shows the judicial disarray on regulation of commerce and principles of the Fourth Amendment at the heart of the famous argument by Otis.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/this_independence_day_we_need_james_otis.html
July 4, 2015
This Independence Day, We Need James Otis
By Mark J. Fitzgibbons
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