Re: Clipper Comparisons for non-geeks

>From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
>Date: Sun, 17 Apr 1994 21:57:23 -0700 (PDT)
>Speaking of landlords, when I was renting I certainly had no
>expectation that the landlord had any "rights" to invite the police in
>to inspect my place for guns, drugs, or other such "contraband." Was I
>mistaken? (I'm not saying a landlord can't enter the premises...it
>depends on the rental agreement. Most landlords give warning. Some may
>snoop. But I think letting in the cops, without a warrant, is still an
>illegal act. I could be wrong.)

In Ohio, they have to give 24 hrs notice before coming in, unless they
smell smoke or gas, or there is some other clear evidence of an emergency
situation.  Not sure about what they can do if they come in because of an
emergency and find you practicing unsafe sex, or something.


>With so much of our world increasingly being owned by the State (the
>consequence of a dollar being taxed many times in its life is that the
>State ends up controlling lots of land, lots of highways, facilities,
>military bases, courthouses, schools, etc. Eventually they may get it
>all.), this "we can frisk you because now you're on our turf" approach
>may put a de facto ending to the Bill of Rights.

I'm not too worried about protection from the state in this case.  That's
what the Bill of Rights is about, and I'm certain these warrantless
searches will fail any Constitutionality test precisely because the
property is government owned.

The scary thing has been our general erosion of a right to privacy from
private enterprise.  For instance, most big companies now routinely make
urinating in a jar a requirement for employment.  It's much easier for a
private entity to get away with something like that than for the government.

tw

Tim Werner writes:

> The scary thing has been our general erosion of a right to privacy from
> private enterprise.  For instance, most big companies now routinely make
> urinating in a jar a requirement for employment.  It's much easier for a
> private entity to get away with something like that than for the government.

Some misplacing of blame here.

Don't forget that it is the "War on Drugs," the requirements for
getting govenment contracts ("a drug-free workplace"), and even the
civil liability laws (where a corporation gets sued into the ground if
drugs are involved...), etc., that are causing the current hysteria.

I know a lot of heads of companies (sometimes I think I'm the only
person who worked in Technology Development at Intel in the 1970s who
didn't end up the President of a company!) and their attitude on drug
use is that they don't want to be bothered with what their employees
(or themselves :-}) do on their own time!

But their lawyers tell them the government, the "Drug Czar," and the
legal system are making it necessary to implement a "drug and smoking
and abusive-language free environment."

Corporations left to themselves have little interest in testing for
previous drug use....obvious inebriation is another matter. (Being
drunk on the job is a firable offense at most companies...but I can
recall more than one departmental lunch" at Intel where too much wine
and beer was consumed and we returned to work mostly drunk, with our
department head standing at the door, passing out dimes for the coffee
machine and shaking his head in amusement.)

Corporations exist to make money, for the most part. A few are run for
ideological reasons, which may involve attempts to snoop or to
regulate the off-hours behavior of employees. The response of those
concerned should be to _leave_. A fair response.

What's so bad about government-corporate ties is that the same crummy
policy is then enforced everywhere, and there's no "leaving."

--Tim May


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