The Seattle Times: Nation & World: NSA's wiretapping program goes before federal judge today:
By Henry Weinstein
Los Angeles Times
"The National Security Agency's controversial surveillance program faces its first major court test today before a federal judge in Detroit.
In January, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and several individuals, who said they feared the government was spying on them, filed a 60-page lawsuit seeking to have the warrantless-wiretapping program declared unconstitutional.
President Bush authorized the program after the Sept. 11 attacks. It permits the agency to listen in on phone calls and obtain e-mails if one party is outside the U.S. without seeking the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The secretive court was created in the 1970s to approve warrants in some intelligence and terrorism-related investigations.
The suit in Detroit, like a similar suit filed in New York by the Center for Constitutional Rights, asserts that the NSA's eavesdropping program has violated free-speech and privacy rights and had a chilling effect on telephone and e-mail conversations with individuals who may be targets of the surveillance. . .
More "
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2 comments:
The Judge had judged that the Bush Administration/NSA did nothing unconstitutional.
Will the Dems buy it?
Will they stop saying that President Bush "broke the law"?
Will they (foolishly) try to make this a campaign issue?
One wonders why the Democrats still don't get it even after Tom Daschel was forced out. Viciousness is no longer the way to win. It's "old hat" and worn out.
Maybe I am being naive but I believe voters are just too smart to fall for it.
Jim De Santis, Editor
On Line Tribune
Jim,
Thanks for your comment. I do believe that the the democrats will make this a constitutional issue just as Arlen Specter will. Personally, as a Republican and as a former Intelligence Analyst, I think it is quite clear that the NSA under the direction of the Bush Administration broke the law.
I would have been just as outraged if the Clinton Administration had committed these actions.
From the router taps that allowed the administration to spy on email and people while they are surfing the web and commenting on blogs, to the collection of phone records to be analyzed, I'm outraged as an American.
I don't see this as just plain politics. This administration might arguably have some of the most experience at running a White House and the executive branch. I find their leadership during these troubling times to be very poor and I think it sets a terrible precedent for potential future administrations that 1. might be less experienced and 2. might be democrats.
This has a long way to go before it makes it through appeals and special investigators and before the facts truly get out. We will probably not hear all the details for another 50 years, and thus history will be the judge.
From my perspective the executive branch needs to start cooperating with the congressional branch and stop disobeying the law. This is a very simple concept and politics are just a red herring.