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[T] People v. Ventura5/6/2004
r a series of F.B.I. counterintelligence programs from 1956-1971 designed to neutralize political dissidents. Counterintelligence goes beyond investigation; it refers to techniques used to neutralize enemy agents. Although covert operations have been employed throughout F.B.I. history, the formal COINTELPRO's of 1956-1971 were broadly targeted against radical political organizations and included approximately over 2,000 illegal break-ins or "black bag jobs" and burglaries of the homes and offices of political dissidents by the F.B.I. See Nelson Blackstock, COINTELPRO: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom, Pathfinder, 1975; Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States, South End Press, 1990; Brian Glick, War at Home: Covert Actions Against U.S. Activists and What We Can Do About It, South End Press; Paul Wolf, et al., COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story, CBC Report to UNHCHR Mary Robinson at the World Conference Against Racism, Durban, South Africa (Sept. 1, 2001) and Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Right of Americans: Book III, Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities United States Senate, COINTELPRO: The FBI's Covert Action Programs Against American Citizens (April 23, 1976).
The first ten amendments of the United States Constitution are to the law what the Ten Commandments are to religion. They are revered as the starting place for the Republic, the sine qua non of democracy. If this humble Village Court allows this search to go unchecked, then others may follow. These may be viewed as small cases with everyday folks as litigants but, in this Court's humble opinion, this case has enormous implications for the freedoms we cherish. If I permit a tiny crack in the wall of liberty, then others will follow until the wall shakes and collapses.
In our society the policeman executing a warrant is no greater patriot then the defense lawyer fighting against it. If we look to our Bill of Rights as being among the principles that caused us to break away from England, to wage a revolutionary war against King George, we must then recognize how strongly we as a people feel about any encroachment to these freedoms. We were and still are willing to die for them. The heros of yesteryear or those in Afghanistan and Iraq, exemplify those principles. What more can be said about our Constitution that is more telling than the fact that for over 200 years, millions have given of their lives in defense of it. Our great bond as a People is not the worship of a flag or religion, rather it is the spirit of individuality and the quest for freedom for which our brothers and sisters have died. They are not forgotten today in this court. They are remembered and memorialized here, in this opinion. It is an opinion that no other court need follow since Village Justice Courts are the lowest courts in our judicial system. We are courts of original and limited jurisdiction. We are jurisdictionally limited both geographically and by subject matter.
Recently our State Legislature quizzed a well respected nominee for the New York Court of Appeals demanding assurances from him that he would not be a "judicial activist." While I do not pretend to know precisely what that term means or why a Legislature would be opposed to a nominee if they were one, this Court notes with irony that this decision is made by it because of the limitations placed upon this Court by law. This is not a case where the Court is exceeding its jurisdiction, rather it is seeking to comply with the limits of its jurisdiction. To the extent that there is
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