Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 12, 2012

A federal district court in Ohio has discovered a fascinating codicil to the Bill of Rights: Apparently, once a government agency steals your property, the Fourth Amendment?s provisions regarding seizure don?t apply, because the amendment deals with retaining property, rather than regaining it once it?s been seized.

Michelle Mathis of Columbus was in a traffic accident last January that resulted in her being hospitalized for the better part of a month. The Columbus Department of Public Safety towed her car and impounded it without sending Mathis written notice of those actions, or instructions about how she could reclaim her property.

Once she left the hospital, Mathis inquired after her car, but was told nothing about its whereabouts. She suspects, reasonably, that the city sold off the vehicle. Mathis filed a federal lawsuit against the city demanding redress under the Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth amendments.

The U.S. District Court for southern Ohio breezily dismissed Mathis?s lawsuit, insisting that her ?interest in regaining her vehicle ? is outside the scope of the Fourth Amendment? because its limitations on seizure only protect ?an individual?s interest in retaining possession of property?.?

The government never runs out of new ways to steal from us.

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