What Happened to the Constitution?
September 17, 2011 - Constitution Day is September 17th, the day many citizens celebrate the foundation upon which all American law is supposed to rest. New laws are emerging every day, however, that rest not upon the U.S. Constitution, but on a newer document called Agenda 21.
The Fourth Amendment says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated….”
The Fifth Amendment says “…nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation….”
Joey Gallo says “All of a sudden I’ve got police at my front door, with guns, wearing bullet proof vests. They surrounded my place. Everything I’ve worked for was just melting away from me.” Oscar Castaneda was told that unless he secures a building permit, he will have to leave his land. The county will not issue a building permit until Oscar pays $75,000 to $100,000 to connect to the electricity grid and dig a new well. For the last 22 years, Oscar has been doing just fine using electricity he generates from his solar panels and with the water that comes from his existing well.
Joey and Oscar are just two of the residents of Antelope Valley in north Los Angeles County who have been targeted by Nuisance Abatement Teams (NATs). For years, these families have lived peaceful lives, disturbing no one. Suddenly, the county wants these people off their land, and they are forcing them off the land with absolutely no regard for the Constitutional guarantee that citizens are secure in their persons, their houses, and their effects. This means that government cannot enter private property uninvited, without a search warrant. Apparently, NATs care nothing about the Fourth Amendment.
The excuse used by the NATs is that unnamed neighbors have complained about the appearance of the property. Oscar’s nearest neighbors are ten miles away. Is there not something in our legal system that says an accused person is entitled to confront his accusers? Not according to the NATs, which have become the LA-God-squads.
Joey, Oscar and the other Antelope Valley residents were not shown a search warrant; they were told to remove or destroy their property, and leave. The county offered not a penny for “just compensation” for the property. Officials just issued orders for the owners to leave, or face fines and jail time for every day they remained in defiance of the officials’ orders.
The detailed story about these people is available here. ReasonTV has produced a video (9:50) that will make you want to travel to Los Angeles County and descend upon the Board of Supervisors and inject a healthy dose of the U.S. Constitution. The producers of the video asked five different departments of Los Angeles county government for an interview to discuss why these properties were being taken. Every department refused to talk to the producers.
read more at link
http://www.themoralliberal.com/2011/09/17/what-happened-to-the-constitution/