All right. Good morning. It is Saturday, September the 13th. I'm Ali Velsch. If you happen to have your

pocket constitution with you, it's going to become very useful in the next few minutes. This week,

the Supreme Court gave federal agents the green light to geographically,

racially, and linguistically profile people in the course of immigration sweeps in Los Angeles.

Now, in doing so, it shattered one of the bedrocks of the American legal tradition.

My goal today is to leave you with a clear understanding of just how grave this Supreme Court

decision is. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S.

Constitution begins with these words. 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. The right of the people to be secure in their persons.

Few parts of the Bill of Rights

drew more directly from the lived experiences of Americans at the time than this one.

American colonists lived under a British crown that tried to police their private lives,

their communications, and their gatherings. The Townsend Acts of 1767 authorized writs of assistance, warrantless

searches that let the Kingsmen storm homes and shops at will, no reasonable suspicion needed,

no rights, just raw power. The coercive acts of 1774 went further forcing colonists to house

British troops in their own homes.

The presence of troops on their streets, in their homes, the intrusive raids, the constant

surveillance, these were not abstract grievances. These were daily humiliations, a powder keg

that helped to ignite the American Revolution, which is why the Constitution's framers

...