Justices can put a leash on America's Inspector Javert

The War on Drugs has seen many casualties — among them the rule of law. Cops have been empowered to simply seize people’s property on the mere assertion of connection to “drug activity.” This practice of civil forfeiture occurs prior to conviction of any crime – and in many cases, without the victim even being charged.

Another casualty-in-the-works is respect for the laws of other countries.The Justice Department is now trying to force Microsoft to violate the laws of Ireland — where the software giant has servers that contain customer data the feds are interested in, pursuant to a drug investigation.