Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

December 14, 2010

Mesa County, Colorado has a population of roughly 146,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thus it?s remarkable that a security breach in the County Sheriff?s Office has released confidential information that may affect 200,000 people.

Between April and November, thousands of pages were archived on what was mistakenly believed to be a secure server. However, the website was accessible to the public, and the confidential material was downloaded dozens of times.

The database was created two decades ago to compile intelligence collected in narcotics investigations. It contains the names of confidential informants used by the local narcotics task force and extensive files about people who were under official scrutiny, most of whom have never been charged with a crime.

Mesa County is a small, unexceptional community in the rural West ? yet local law enforcement, working with the Feds, was running a surveillance operation worthy of the East German Stasi. This is yet another blessing we?ve been given by the demented enterprise called the War on Drugs.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made use free.