Police are flirting with limits of the Fourth Amendment and attempting to set a dangerous precedent as they embark in an effort to seize private computer hard drives they believe could contain evidence against lawbreakers during the March 28-30 disturbances.
Last week, police obtained a warrant to confiscate a computer from an on-campus student. But the warrant wasn't necessary because the student handed over the computer without resistance.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said the student's name is being withheld because he isn't a criminal suspect. Police said they traced Internet pictures they found of the weekend melee back to the student's computer.
Dunnings said this is the first time computer equipment has been confiscated in connection with a riot investigation inside the MSU community.
Police demanded photographs and footage from media organizations to aid their investigations after the March 27-28, 1999 riot, but the state Supreme Court ruled against the law enforcement effort citing that news providers are not an extension of the government.
Police say confiscating computers is more helpful to their investigation than simply downloading pictures or videos because they can gain access to images temporarily discarded but not deleted off hard drives.
But the problem with this tactic is that it borders on being a serious violation of people's civil liberties - namely those provided for in the Fourth Amendment.
The Fourth Amendment says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause."
As for people such as the unnamed student who handed over his computer to police without any resistance, it's questionable how police could obtain a warrant in the first place since there is no suspicion of wrongdoing.
But the student's willingness to cooperate with officer's unorthodox demands is understandable. Perhaps he was frightened as to what punishment could fall upon him if he wasn't helpful, given the conviction of community leaders to make examples of all those who are accused of wrongdoing.
MSU already has suspended four students indefinitely for their alleged involvement in the March 28 weekend melee. None of those students have been convicted of a crime in a court of law for connections with the events. Perhaps the student felt a sacrifice of his civil liberties was a small price to pay in comparison to the possibility of losing his educational opportunity without justifiable reasons.
Local leaders should seriously consider easing up in their witch hunt for no-more-riot poster children. Like many bystanders and media, police made footage of the weekend's events. Law enforcers should make use of their own assets and not attempt to strong-arm innocent bystanders into offering assistance.
In the aftermath of the 1999 riots, student and local leaders began to focus on improving student-resident and student-police relations. Now is not the time for an overbearing witch hunt to destroy what's been built.
If unreasonable searches and seizures are to become the precedent for conducting such an investigation, it is scary to think what will happen the next time. East Lansing cannot become a police state - the American way of life isn't supposed to allow for such tyranny.
