April 19th in Boston

Today was an extraordinary day for American law.  One terrorist was able to paralyze a million people in Boston when, exactly 238 years ago today, 4,000 British troops could not do the same in a much smaller city as the Revolution began. Today's implications for law and policy are profound-

Immigration- The Tsarnaev brothers were naturalized citizens who committed terrorist acts.  How we decide who can stay here, and who gets to be an American is a fuzzy issue.  At the very least, the Natural Law language of "rights" for immigrants will, by changing political winds, be replaced by the notion that every sovereign country gets to set to process for naturalization.

5th Amendment- There is a Public Safety Exception to the Miranda Rule being invoked based on national security threats. On CNN, Jeffrey Toobin made the point that Miranda Rights are about verbal statements being used against the defendant in court.  Here, there may be so much evidence that law enforcement/intelligence may want to start interrogation right away.

4th Amendment/Privacy- From the commercial Closed Circuit TV footage to the use of infrared scanners on a police helicopter for the ultimate arrest, our norms of "privacy" are changing how law enforcement can operate.  Just yesterday, the House voted on a related bill, CISPA, about telecom companies sharing cybersecurity information with law enforcement.

Arms-  Why handguns and not bombs?  Who decides, and is that decision a democratic or judicial one?  These suspects had guns and bombs and what people should be allowed to have is another topic voted on in Congress this week.

Federation- From the variety Federal agents working with the state police, all the way down to various campus police officers, the coordination was truly remarkable. The outpouring of support I see in social media from across the political and cultural spectrum is amazing.  This suggests a general sense of trust in government.

The arms and armor of law enforcement officers is much more menacing than a generation ago.  As stated above, legal adjectives like "reasonable," "expected privacy," and local "control" will adjust.