Editorial July 4, 1959 Issue

A CALL TO ARMS

Harold Molter

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees the individual against unreasonable search and seizure. It has been generally accepted as a basic law in this country that a citizen's home may not be entered without a search warrant obtained from an authorized representative of the law. For centuries a man's home has been considered his castle, in which he was free from illegal entry. Now this basic law has been changed.

Recently the United States Supreme Court in a five to four decision has held that health inspectors may enter a home without a search warrant to determine whether the conditions are unsanitary. One of the Justices who voted against the majority opinion writes, "The decision today greatly dilutes the right of privacy which every homeowner had the right to believe was part of our American heritage."

In an article entitled "Other Ways than by War," Mary Baker Eddy writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 277): "Whatever weighs in the eternal scale of equity and mercy tips the beam on the right side, where the immortal words and deeds of men alone can settle all questions amicably and satisfactorily. But if our nation's rights or honor were seized, every citizen would be a soldier and woman would be armed with power girt for the hour."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

"THERE IS NO POWER APART FROM GOD"