An elderly man is suing two federal government agencies for Constitutional rights violations. The rancher claims that both agencies trespassed on his property and installed cameras on his trees without his permission – but the icing on the cake was when they threatened to arrest him.
According to ARS Technica, last November a 74-year-old rancher and attorney was walking around his ranch just south of Encinal, Texas, when he happened upon a small portable camera strapped approximately eight feet high onto a mesquite tree near his son’s home. The camera was encased in green plastic and had a transmitting antenna. The rancher removed the camera, and that’s when the trouble began for the feds involved in this property violation.
Soon after, Ricardo Palacios, the rancher, received phone calls from Customs and Border Protection officials and the Texas Rangers. Each agency claimed the camera as its own and demanded that it be returned. Palacios refused both, and they threatened him with arrest. Palacios saw the camera as the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. So he sued. He sued both CBP and the Texas Rangers for continued violation of his property and Constitutional rights.
“My client is 74 years old, he’s a lawyer, been practicing for almost 50 years, he has no criminal history whatsoever, law-abiding citizen, respected lawyer, and senior citizen,” Raul Casso, one of the attorneys representing Palacios, told Ars. “To have put him in jail would have been—forget the indecency of it—what a way to end a career.”
In court filings, Texas officials have claimed qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that protects law enforcement officials.
The camera now remains in Palacios’ attorneys’ possession while they are attempting to ask the case’s judge to allow them to formally introduce it in court as evidence. This federal lawsuit has raised thorny questions about the limits of the government’s power to conduct surveillance on private property, without the landowner’s permission.
“As a matter of policy, CBP does not comment on pending litigation,” Jennifer Gabris, a CBP spokeswoman, emailed Ars Technica. The Texas Department of Public Safety similarly declined comment.
Nothing makes freedom lovers happier than seeing others stand up to the abusive rights violations of the federal government. Godspeed, Palacios!
#1: Tooconservative To: Deckard (#0)
Just how many agencies placed cameras on his property and under what legal authority?
His land is outside the near-border enforcement zone. I'm pretty sure that the feds have no authority on his land, not as sure about the Texas Rangers.
If both feds and the Rangers are squabbling over the camera, the court case will reveal a lot more than either one wants released to the public.
This could be an interesting case as it unwinds, as both agencies are subject to subpoena and testimony in an open court.
My guess is that they'll both suddenly decide that they don't want their camera back after all.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-02-23 11:15:30 Reply Private Reply
#2: Gatlin To: Tooconservative (#1)
Rancher Accuses Border Patrol of ‘Roaming Freely’ on His Land
If indeed the camera was placed 2 miles past the 25-mile limit....he has a firm case.
Gatlin posted on 2018-02-23 16:32:08 Reply Private Reply
#3: Tooconservative To: Gatlin (#2)
This is a bottomfeeder of an article. A good article that was cutdown to republish as some clickbait off a content farm. I can't see anything here that wasn't far better covered in the Ars article. And they left out a lot of the important details.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-02-23 16:52:33 Reply Private Reply
#4: Gatlin To: Tooconservative (#3)
At least this second article stated that the camera was two miles outside the 25-mile limit.
I am not going to bother searching for the ArsTechnica article since there is no link.
I have lost interest in pursuing this.
Gatlin posted on 2018-02-23 17:13:39 Reply Private Reply
#5: Deckard To: Gatlin (#4)
Proof once again that Parsons, at best, merely skims the articles.
According to ARS Technica, last November a 74-year-old rancher and attorney was walking around his ranch just south of Encinal, Texas, when he happened upon a small portable camera strapped approximately eight feet high onto a mesquite tree near his son’s home.
Deckard posted on 2018-02-23 17:24:46 Reply Private Reply
#6: Tooconservative To: Deckard (#5)
LF could have a little more distinctive hyperlink colors. There are times when I make links and have to look close at them to make sure they were done. This applies mostly to the already-visited links, not links you haven't clicked on before.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-02-24 09:16:08 Reply Private Reply