The FBI overstepped its constitutional authority when agents searched hundreds of safe deposit boxes without warrants in 2021, a federal appeals court ruled. The court compared the FBI’s tactics to the kind of indiscriminate searches that led to the enactment of the Bill of Rights in the first place.
In March 2021, the FBI raided U.S. Private Vaults, a safe deposit box company in Beverly Hills, California. The company marketed its services around client anonymity and privacy, which appealed to gambling rings and drug operations, but also customers who were unable to get a deposit box at their bank or simply mistrusted banks and preferred to store their valuables elsewhere.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment on the specifics of the ruling. “We are prepared to destroy records of the inventory search, which is the relief sought by the plaintiffs,” said Thom Mrozek, the office’s director of media relations.
“Today’s opinion draws a line in the sand,” said Rob Johnson, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, the libertarian nonprofit representing the plaintiffs. “If this had come out the other way, the government could have exported this raid as a model across the country. Now, the government is on notice its actions violated the Fourth Amendment.”
@V0t1ngTomatoeRepublican8mos8MO
FBI is riddled with corruption
@AnxiousFlamingoLibertarian8mos8MO
I love it.
The FBI is increasingly becoming a state sanctioned criminal enterprise.
@9JF4GHCRepublican8mos8MO
What you put in safe deposit boxes is supposed to be safe and private.
@9JFG6P28mos8MO
This is swept under the rug and needs to be made known.
@9JFG7ZX8mos8MO
this should't go unheard there the fbi they shouldn't mess up like this it was probably on purpose.
@9JFDZN88mos8MO
The safe deposit boxes were private property. They shouldn't've broken into them
@9JF6ZFN8mos8MO
Police being bad and not following laws
@9JF7ZWV 8mos8MO
It’s a horrible violation of power
@9JF7NYR8mos8MO
What happens in America matters more to me than things happening in other places.
@9JF78YF8mos8MO
I dont really know about that topic but it seems the most important.
@9JF8X4B8mos8MO
I think they did overstep and there are rules for a reason.
@JollyP4rtyGreen8mos8MO
It must have been a mistake on the part of the FBI. Of course, officers involved should face penalties as justified. That's how things should always work. The Constitution is a divine document and those rights mean more than anything. Clumsiness or lack of awareness is no excuse of course when it comes to handling sensitive information located in safe deposit boxes.
@Patriot-#1776Constitution8mos8MO
This is why we must instantly abolish the FBI!
@OutlyingQuokkaLibertarian8mos8MO
Every time I recall this case, it infuriates me. They knew they were on a fishing expedition and the warrant application was a sham.
Freaking pirates.
@PanickySyrupConstitution8mos8MO
If you haven't been following this story, it's sickening.
FBI agents essentially burglarized people, swiping cash and valuable from safe deposit boxes without an accusation of wrongdoing, and kept the loot.
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