Hasan Piker’s Detention and the Attack on the 4th Amendment
Decades of precedent, from RICO to asset forfeiture to “good faith” exceptions, have normalized warrantless search and gutted the Fourth Amendment. Hasan Piker’s detainment is the latest proof that constitutional rights are now largely a legal fiction.
Hasan Piker speaks at the March for Our Lives Los Angeles rally on March 24, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Sarah Morris / Getty Images)
Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was detained and interrogated at Chicago O’Hare airport on Sunday after returning from a trip to Paris. Many have taken the incident as a dire indication of the “constitutional and civil liberties–related perils” that the Trump administration poses.
What’s been most surprising about the Department of Homeland Security’s detention of Piker is that, despite its concerning implications, it was perfectly legal. As Ken Klippenstein lays out here:
Though the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, the Supreme Court has recognized a so-called border search exception. This authority applies to anyone located within 100 miles of a land border or coastline — the “border zone” — which incidentally covers over two-thirds of the US population.
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