As a teenager, I love my cell phone, and any other electronics. As an American citizen, I also practice my right to privacy.
Bobby McKenzie suggested that the Oakland County Courts should be expanded to provide a special "FISA"-like court solely to authorize surveillance activities by the Oakland County Sheriff.
McKenzie went on Fox 2 news to talk about the issue.
On the segment "Let It Rip", McKenzie was asked about the stingray device. Now a stingray device is a surveillance device to capture cell phone information. It acts as a cell phone tower so every cell phone in the area communicates with it.
On the segment, Huel Perkins said "If there is a federal system of courts in place to grant special permission, maybe there should be one at the county and state level. I don't know if that's the answer."
McKenzie says in response "I think that is exactly right."
As I mentioned before, I love my cell phone, and I love my privacy. It's one thing to track a fugitive, but to get a device involved that tracks EVERYONE? I feel that is in violation of my Fourth Amendment. Police officials should need a warrant to search something like that, ONLY if reasonable suspicion and probable cause is in question.
"That's outrageous!" says Skinner after hearing about this segment. Paul Stevenson, chair of the Justice Caucus at the Michigan Democratic Party even chimed in saying "That's just scary."
On Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Riley v. California that police cannot look through a cell phone taken from someone they arrest without first obtaining a warrant. According to the Washington Post, the Court unanimously said privacy rights are not to be sacrificed to 21st- century technology. Why should it even be questioned?
"Our Supreme Court has just reaffirmed the people's right guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to be free of warrantless intrusions by the government,” Skinner said. “We don't need to expand our government to facilitate the Oakland County Sheriff collecting cell phone data on innocent citizens. That money should go to fixing our roads, educating our children, creating jobs and protecting the health and welfare of our seniors."
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“These are the things that the people in the 11th District want; and these are the things I will fight for if elected."
The controversy began with recent reports on the use of devices like “Stingray” and “Hailstorm” that allow law enforcement to track cell phone information from cell phone towers. Basic information about how the device works, what information it collects, whether protocols exist to handle data and protect privacy, or how previously gathered information was used in police investigations, was requested by The Detroit News under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); but the Oakland County Sheriff declined to release any of the requested information, citing the fact that their device was acquired from the National Security Administration to justify their refusal.
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"People deserve both transparency and accountability for spying activities by law enforcement, which Oakland County isn't currently providing," Skinner said. “But a massive expansion of surveillance courts into our local communities is not the way to go.”
I value my Fourth Amendment, and my right to privacy, and I have enough assurance that if Skinner is elected, it won't be jeopardized.
Here is a link to the Fox 2 article:
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25824385/let-it-rip-stingray-device-brad-ausmus-comments
