76-16-A5
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1977
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Man's Castle[edit]
Transcript[edit]A man's home is his castle. We in the United States are unique in all the world because we're protected against government's unwarranted invasion of our homes. I'll be right back. A unique feature of that document so unique in itself, the United States Constitution is the fourth amendment, guaranteeing the sanctity of our homes. In all the social structures governing man's relationship to man, prior to the American Revolution, no one denied government's right to enter a citizen's dwelling place to search and to seize. But here, for two hundred years, we the people have declared that officials cannot invade our privacy unless they obtain a warrant and that warrant must show probable cause, meaning the magistrate issuing the warrant must be given specific evidence which indicates a search is justified in the interest of the public good. Now suddenly we discover that as bureaus and agencies of government have increased in number, they've also increased in power. Spawning regulations to make their own jobs easier or just to carry out what they've decided is best for society they increasingly invade, inspect and punish without the formality of a warrant. Discovery of this was made by Idaho congressman George Hanson. O.S.H.A., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, sought entry to a small husband and wife owned business. The wife, Mrs. Hertzler, told the inspectors quote "Not without a warrant." Unquote. They returned with a warrant but it didn't show probable cause, so again they were denied entry. The Herzlers have a small shop in their backyard. As a courtesy to their five employees they let them keep their lunches in the refrigerator which is in the Herzler's own kitchen. The O.S.H.A. inspectors used this as an excuse to demand entry into the Herzler's home and a roused Mr. Hertzler ran them off with justified anger. Learning of this, Congressman Hanson, who has challenged O.S.H.A.'s high-handed tactics before, inquired of O.S.H.A. if they did indeed claim the right to search private dwellings without a warrant. The answer was, yes O.S.H.A. did make such a claim. His next stop was the solicitor's office in the Department of Labor. There he was blatantly informed by one Mike Levine that the O.S.H.A. Act gave the Labor Department the authority to conduct such inspections of private homes under Section 8A of public law 91-596. Looking at all the areas government now claims is within its jurisdiction and therefore subject to its regulations, the consequences of such a statement are staggering. Your home could be subject to search simply because you are hiring a gardener, having carpet installed or redoing the kitchen. Congressman Hanson has called the seriousness of this violation of constitutional principle to the attention of his colleagues. Congress passed the law which gave O.S.H.A. its authority. It is probable that O.S.H.A. like so many other agencies has arrogantly gone beyond Congressional intent. But whatever, Congress can undo what has been done and should do so quickly and emphatically. Daniel Webster said, "Hold on to your Constitution, for if the American Constitution shall fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world." This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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