People always ask why they should worry about unwarranted police surveillance or intrusions. If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about, right? Its not about whether or not you’ve got something to hide. Its that you have to think about it. The criminal lives life looking over his shoulder, because he knows that he may be targeted by the police. His actions make him a target, and he lives in fear of discovery. When the police target innocent people, those people begin to look over their shoulders, too. They adopt an internal policeman. They self-censor; every action reconsidered from the perspective of a paranoid investigator – common desires unfulfilled for the risk that they may be questioned or misinterpreted. The soul becomes imprisoned by fear and life is diminished. That is why 4th Amendment rights matter. |