Warrants Waived? 13th Amendment Raises Red Flags

Lawmakers are pushing the Thirteenth Amendment Bill, calling it a bold step to crack down on crime. But critics say it could come at a steep cost: your constitutional rights. If passed, the amendment would give the government sweeping powers to declare ‘special areas’—zones where police could search, seize, and arrest without a warrant. It also proposes a brand-new Gun and Gang Court and aims to retroactively validate past states of emergency, even those already ruled unconstitutional by the courts. Supporters, including Police Commissioner Doctor Richard Rosado, say it’s a necessary move to keep communities safe. But legal experts and human rights advocates are sounding the alarm, warning that this could open the door to government overreach.

 

Darrel Bradley, Attorney-at-law

“I’m very concerned with that and I do not support it.  And the reason I don’t support it is because you cannot deal with fundamental changes in one sense and not deal with structural changes in the other and that type of power in a system overall that has inequalities and structural problems can inure to the detriment of certain element of society which we’ve oftentimes punished. So the face of crime in Belize, not that we don’t have a serious crime situation and we need policing and so forth. But those kinds of fundamental changes to our constitution and our democratic must be one within the context of other structural changes that rebalances the negative harm. So when you’re talking about those serious types of powers, it’s actually dangerous.”