First Amendment - Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition

   Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Second Amendment - Right to keep and bear arms.

   A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Third Amendment - Protection from quartering of troops.

   No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Fourth Amendment - Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

   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, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Fifth Amendment - due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.

   No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Sixth Amendment - Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel

   In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Seventh Amendment - Civil trial by jury.

   In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Eighth Amendment - Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

   Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Ninth Amendment - Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

   The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment - Powers of states and people.

   The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The current brewHaHa over the FISA bill is over two issues:
(a) the roving wiretaps (or whatever it is that they do)
(b) the retroactive immunities being granted to the telcos who were in violation of the 4th amendment.

It is said that the roving wiretap violates the 4th Amendment.

The wikipedia version of the 4th amendment is

Fourth Amendment - Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

   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, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

And the answer expected by the ICE officer is

Fourth Amendment - The government may not search or take a person's property without a warrant.

Frankly, I do not see any problems.  

When I make a telephone call, or when I surf the internet, or when I send an email, I do so with the expectation that I am broadcasting it to the whole world (and the whole world probably includes the NSA).  It is for this reason that my company does not permit the transmission of any ITAR restricted content via email.  And when I do not want to broadcast to the whole world, I send encrypted emails, and use encrypted voice communications.

There is a big difference between having the government seize my property without my permission and without a warrant, and the government snooping on my property without my permission and without a warrant.

Seizing my property without a warrant and without my permission is not okay, and is in clear violation of the 4th amendment.  But what about snooping on me ?  The 4th amendment has some very direct language on "unreasonable search"es.  

But what constitutes an "unreasonable" search.  As per the 4th Amendment, an unreasonable search is not okay ~ by default, a reasonable search should be okay.  

So what differentiates an unreasonable search from a reasonable search.

Now, I am not a constitutional scholar (as evidenced by the fact that I did not have all this memorized), but here is my laymans take on it...

An unreasonable search is one in which the citizen has a reasonable expectation of privacy in that particular situation.  

When I go out into a public place (such as at a Dodgers game), I have no (or should have no) expectation of privacy.  Thus, the government is allowed to snoop on me.  

When I go into my bedroom, and shut the curtains, I have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  Thus, the government is not allowed to snoop on me (and dont believe that they could not do so ~ they do have techniques for "through the wall imaging").

When I use the unsecured internets to communicate anything, I should have no expectation of privacy.  

Thus, I do not believe that having the NSA snoop on me when I send an email is a violation of my constitutional rights.  I also do not believe that it is wrong of them to do so.

And so, I stand in support of Sen. Obama's stance on the compromise legislation on FISA.