Congressman Thomas Massie Endorses Greg Brannon for U.S. Senate

Dear xxxx, My name is Thomas Massie, and I represent Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. When I first ran for Congress in 2012, Senator Rand Paul supported my campaign and helped propel me to victory over my better-funded establishment opponents. And today, I'm proud to stand with my good friend Rand Paul and endorse Greg Brannon for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. If elected to the U.S. Senate, I have no doubt that Greg Brannon will fight tooth-and-nail to repeal ObamaCare and fight for our conservative values. But Greg can't get to Washington and join Senator Paul on the front lines without the help and support of conservatives like you. That's why I hope you'll join me and Rand Paul in supporting Greg Brannon by making a generous contribution to his campaign. I can tell you from first-hand experience the Washington establishment is gunning for Greg in this election. They know he's not "their guy," so they're going to do everything they can to defeat him. So please take a moment to read Greg's letter below. And after you read his letter, I hope you'l help Greg shake up Washington by making a generous contribution to his December 6-16th "Retreat is NOT an Option" Money Bomb right away. In Liberty, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY)

Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Thomas Massie stand against Supreme Court DNA decision

The last two elections have brought in a new wave of Republicans. Republicans that defend the Bill of Rights as they are legally obliged to.

The following statement was issued by Senator Ted Cruz in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Maryland v. King to allow DNA to be taken by law enforcement on simple arrests:

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) released the following statement on today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Maryland v. King:

Today’s unfortunate U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Maryland v. King, by a vote of 5-4, expands government power, invades our liberty, and undermines our constitutional rights. The Court held that the police can forcibly take DNA samples from people who have been arrested—but have not been tried or convicted—of a serious offense. So now the government can capture, without a search warrant, the most personal information about an individual, and use it to search vast databases for unrelated offenses.

All 50 States already collect DNA from convicted felons. So this intrusion of liberty will matter only for those not convicted: the innocent and wrongly accused or those for whom there is insufficient evidence to convict.

As Justice Scalia rightly noted in dissent, “As an entirely predictable consequence of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason.”

All of us should be alarmed by this significant step towards government as Big Brother. The excessive concentration of power in government is always inimical to liberty, and a national database of our DNA cannot be reconciled with the Fourth Amendment.

Accumulating DNA from arrestees—without warrant or probable cause to seize the DNA—is not designed to solve the crime for which the person has (rightly or wrongly) been arrested. Rather, it’s to test the DNA against a national database to potentially implicate them in other unsolved crimes. But the Constitution requires particularized suspicion of a specific crime; indeed, the Fourth Amendment was adopted to prohibit the British practice of “general warrants” targeting individuals absent specific evidence of wrongdoing.

Justice Scalia’s scathing dissent is right: If we really want a DNA database to solve more crimes, then why not require DNA samples to fly on airplanes, get driver’s licenses, or attend public schools?

If the government has good cause for needing the DNA sample—such as trying to match DNA at a crime scene to a particular person where there is other corroborating evidence—then the government can ask a judge for a search warrant. That’s what our Framers intended—judicial checks on extensive government power to invade our personal lives.

Law enforcement is a paramount function of government. But we cannot allow that government function to run roughshod over the Bill of Rights. And, as recent events involving the IRS have demonstrated, unchecked government power—and intrusive personal databases maintained on the citizenry—poses real risks to our liberty.

The next day, Representative Thomas Massie took to the House floor to condemn the decision: