I want my front door sacred
Under the Fourth Amendment it is, in my layman’s understanding, illegal for law enforcement to enter a private home without the consent of the dweller. The dwelling, in addition to free-standing single occupancy, would be apartments, dormitories and possibly long-standing outdoor homes. Only in the case of a warrant obtained through a judge, or strong evidence of danger to the dweller or other persons in the home can there be access.
How will this work with the deportation of millions of undocumented workers who live a dwelling but have no outstanding lawful warrants? Will the Fourth Amendment protect the documented person or citizens’ private space? Can a person be extracted from his dwelling if the legal dweller denies entry?
This is a serious matter. If I, for whatever reason, wish to deny entry to my home for any other reason than the presentation of a warrant be prosecuted?
Do we want the neighbors to contact the police with their suspicions of the people working on the house next door? We have seen how that works in other countries when there is a purge.
I want my front door sacred. I want physical entry into my home only for the wellbeing of someone in my home or the clear evidence of life and death danger to others in or outside my home. I believe if someone other than myself is in my home those other occupants or guests are in my legally protected space.
The next question is: Can any person be accosted in a public place and forced to produce proof of legality?
Anita Nelson, St. Paul
Mean-spirited rhetoric
What a nasty piece of work Joe Soucheray’s Nov. 10 column turned out to be. Hoping for some new ideas Tim Walz could implement to respond to the economic needs of the poor and working class who voted in droves for change, all I read was old Walz quips twisted and slanted as unkindly as possible.
This is not the way forward.
Unfortunately, the new administration has modeled mean-spirited rhetoric so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Suzanne Brenner, Eagan
Problem solved
That Matt Gaetz is a Republican Party “problem” is undisputed.
President Trump has resolved this:
• Nominate Gaetz for Attorney General.
• Gaetz immediately resigns his U.S. House position.
• The U.S. Senate rejects the Gaetz nomination.
Problem solved.
Gene Delaune, New Brighton
So much creative blaming
I’ve never seen so much creative blaming as reasons for why people couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Kamala Harris. No, this isn’t the fault of (insert chosen person or entity here — there are way too many to list). This is the fault of the voters. Life wasn’t totally going your way, or you couldn’t stomach a woman leading the country, or whatever, so you decided to vote for the amoral wrecking ball (who now, one week later, is already creating havoc). You did this; this is on you. Unfortunately, now the rest of us are going to be held hostage on your ride.
Carol Turnbull, Woodbury
A double standard
After reading the lead story of the Tuesday, Nov. 12, edition which reported a man was shot by police while they were trying to arrest him on a murder charge for killing a women and her unborn child, I pondered our society’s double standard of life. If arrested, the man might have gone to jail for a second life sentence for killing the unborn child. Yet if a woman decided to kill the same unborn child through abortion (up to one second before birth), she would be heralded as a hero of women’s rights.
Curious world we live in, and sad.
J. Max Cortner, Inver Grove Heights
Threats
U.S. president or not, the legacy left by Donald Trump is demonstrated by what is happening in Minnesota and all around the country. Election denial aside there is no excuse for death and bomb threats against hard-working election workers. Threats are Donald Trump’s stock in trade. That is how he has cowed the GOP. No one wants death threats against themselves or family members for speaking out. Any displeasure toward anyone voiced by Donald Trump is immediately acted out by the MAGA cult and it will only become worse.
Joe Danko, North St. Paul
No one is above the law?
The news report “Smith plans to resign before Trump sworn in” in Thursday’s Pioneer Press states, “Smith, who since taking office two years ago has operated under the principle that not even a powerful ex-president is above the law.”
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution represents the principle that “no one is above the law.” Long before that. in 1215, the Magna Carta embedded the concept that “no man, not even the king, is above the law.” Those are the principles that our nation is built upon. But now even though our U. S. Constitution enshrines this long-held belief, it has been dashed. We have learned instead that no man is above the law except Donald J. Trump.
Now it is OK to sexually abuse, to incite a riot, to commit fraud and even subvert the Constitution by attempting to overturn the election of the president. It’s now OK to steal top-secret documents and squirrel them away at your resort with no concern for who sees them.
Let’s all now feel free to commit any crime and simply appear in court and explain how it is all just a witch hunt; it’s politically motivated; it’s the deep state coming to get us. Commit any crime you like and you will have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
On second thought maybe it won’t work for you if you aren’t a billionaire named Trump. So much for No Man Is Above the Law and our nation’s sacred principles.
Dennis Fendt, Oakdale
‘Jeopardy,’ Lyngblomsten and Tommie women
ln early fall St Thomas University contacted Lyngblomsten about opportunities for their Women’s Basketball Team to do volunteer work. The Heritage Apartments Building, housing around sixty seniors, was selected for the team activity. Teri Jungels, activity and service coordinator at Heritage, proposed the team play Jeopardy with our senior citizens.
Arranged were three sets of long tables, each having six basketball players and six Heritage residents at one table. Each table competed against the other two tables. There were two sessions, one in September and one in October, dealing with challenging topics on Minnesota history and back-to-school issues.
There was an explosion of lively conversation, friendly loud volume, input of seniors past work and life experiences and Tommie women’s knowledge and decision-making abilities drawing from college classes in math, science, art, language, etcetera.
We enjoyed each other’s company. I think that the Norwegian Lutheran women who founded Lyngblomsten in the early 1900s would have enjoyed being with the Tommie women’s basketball team. The young women also visited residents in their apartments who were unable to go to board games at Heritage.
We wish them the best as they hit the courts.
George Barr, St. Paul
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