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The Minnesota legislature has introduced an amendment to the MN Constitution to enshrine the protections afforded by the 4th amendment to electronic communication and data as well. It appears that this amendment has broad diverse support in the state house but leadership in the state senate is only lukewarm on it. In the senate Ron Latz (DFL) Chairman of the Judiciary Committee had blocked the amendment stating that he feels it is redundant. Additionally Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL) opposes the amendment because it is an amendment to the MN constitution. If passed, Minnesota would become only the second state to enact such a change — Missouri enacted its amendment last year with 75% of the popular vote.
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MN Legislature Introduces Amendment to Protect Electronic Communication
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The truth about a man lies first and foremost in what he hides.
-- Andre Malraux
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 18 2015, @11:00PM
"Federal law pre-empts state law."
That is incorrect. Federal law functions in parallel, not above state law. Which is why the fed can't compel state police to enforce federal law when state laws aren't violated. This has been upheld on a number of occasions. Almost all the related legislation on the federal side is commercial code, which is granted under the federal right to regulate interstate commerce.
It is worth noting, the SCOTUS has not addressed its own conflicts with Article 1 Section 9, or with its divergence with the separation of powers doctrine. So it is hard to say whether throwing out any more of the Constitution is in vogue at the moment. But it would be fair to say that few state courts would regard SCOTUS with any respect if things get much worse.
MN is setting itself up for a fight, and they should be applauded. Unfortunately MN can't compel SCOTUS to take a case. So you can expect the same thing we saw with Citizens United vs. FEC. Which is a cherry picked case, poorly fought, and very possibly argued with the same intent by both sides. But at least some light will shine, though it is scary to consider what it may reveal.