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The U.S. Constitution is the cornerstone of the American legal system, and it is the guiding light of every judicial opinion ever rendered. How many decisions have come down from every court in the nation where a guilty man is set free, some damning evidence is excluded, or a guilty man is set free because some principal of law requires it. Our laws must apply equally to the entirety of this country's people without exception, and the long-term application of any of these core principles is far more important than the one-off possibility or the bottomless pit of "what if"s for any one person.

Evidentiary and procedural protocols exist to protect the integrity of the system. We are all familiar with the system of checks and balances between the branches of our government, but this was an important part of the citizens' check on the law enforcement element of government. That check has all but disappeared with recent judicial opinions that allow the admission of evidence collected in direct and intentional violation of these protocols in criminal trials, leaving the offended offender to be convicted with this illegal evidence, and suggesting that a civil remedy is the most appropriate resolution.

This shift in the courts is an assault on every citizen's constitutional protections. The principle, however, is far greater than the practice, and organizations like FYR act to preserve those principles. Only when you know your rights can you protect them, can you assert them, can you stand up for them. Ignorance is a prison, both figuratively AND literally, and educating citizens to flex their rights today is the only way to ensure that those rights will be preserved for the America of tomorrow.