Dear Friend,

If the government can tell you what you can and cannot do within the privacy of your home, whether it relates to what you eat, what you smoke or whom you love, you no longer have any rights whatsoever within your home.
 
If government officials can fine and arrest you for growing vegetables in your front yard, praying with friends in your living room, installing solar panels on your roof, and raising chickens in your backyard, you’re no longer the owner of your property.
 
If school officials can punish your children for what they do or say while at home or in your care, your children are not your own—they are the property of the state.
 
If government agents can invade your home, break down your doors, kill your dog, damage your furnishings and terrorize your family, your property is no longer private and secure—it belongs to the government.
 
Likewise, if police can forcefully draw your blood, strip search you, and probe you intimately, your body is no longer your own, either.


 
This is what a world without the Fourth Amendment looks like, where the lines between private and public property have been so blurred that private property is reduced to little more than something the government can use to control, manipulate and harass you to suit its own purposes, and you the homeowner and citizen have been reduced to little more than a tenant or serf in bondage to an inflexible landlord.
 
This is not the world that I envisioned for my children and grandchildren, which is why The Rutherford Institute is working hard to ensure that Americans remain secure in our “persons, houses, papers, and effects.”
 
In other words, we’re fighting to ensure that the Fourth Amendment’s protections, which were intended to follow us wherever we go, also apply to all that is ours—whether you’re talking about our physical bodies, our biometric data, our possessions, our families, or our way of life. But we can’t do this alone.
 
Please take a moment right now to make a tax-deductible donation to The Rutherford Institute in support of our critical legal cases and educational programs. You can do so by clicking here, visiting us online at www.rutherford.org, or over the phone at 1-800-225-1791. Or, if it’s easier on your budget, you can also sign on to be a regular monthly donor. Whatever you do, know that we appreciate it and that you’re making a huge difference in the fight for freedom.
 
I remain, yours faithfully,
 
John W. Whitehead
President
 
P.S. The best gift you can give anyone this year is the gift of freedom, and a good place to start is by supporting the work of The Rutherford Institute. With any gift of support of $35 or more, we’ll also send you a signed copy of my new book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.

CONTACT INFORMATION Nisha Whitehead (434) 978-3888 ext. 604 (434) 466-6168 (cell) nisha@rutherford.org THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE Post Office Box 7482 Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482 Phone: (434) 978-3888 www.rutherford.org Copyright © 2013 The Rutherford Institute, All rights reserved.
Under the regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service, The Rutherford Institute is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. Donations to support The Rutherford Institute’s legal and educational work help to safeguard the constitutional rights and religious freedoms of all Americans. Donations are tax-deductible. In compliance with general industry standards of a nonprofit organization, the Institute is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.