jmcgready’s misc universe

EFF: Spread the Word: Stop the Surveillance Bills!:

EFF has sued AT&T for violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA)

in its massive and illegal spying program. On July 20, 2006, a federal judge denied the government’s and AT&T’s motions to dismiss the case,

and, in doing so, demonstrated that the conventional court system is perfectly capable of handling challenges related to illegal spying.

But now the White House and Senator Arlen Specter are scheming to sweep all legal challenges related to government spying under the rug,

moving cases to a secret court with no procedures for hearing argument from anyone but the government.

This sham “compromise” bill will help the government continue to break the law,

vastly expanding the president’s power to spy on you without any meaningful oversight from Congress or the courts.

The bill:

* Stacks the deck against anyone challenging illegal surveillance programs in court,

sweeping legal challenges into the shadowy Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts.

* Guts long-standing statutory limits on secret surveillance by the government,

threatening to make search warrants for national security wiretaps optional rather than mandatory.

* Permits even more dragnet surveillance, creating a secret approval process for electronic fishing expeditions

that could sweep up the communications of millions of Americans.

Here’s what the press is saying:

* Washington Post:

“Mr. Specter’s bill … has been turned into a green light for domestic spying. It must not pass….

This bill is not a compromise but a full-fledged capitulation on the part of the legislative branch to executive claims of power.”

* Los Angeles Times:

“[Specter's] compromise solution is too much of a compromise and not enough of a solution.”

* New York Times:

“The bill the president has agreed to accept would allow him to go on ignoring the eavesdropping law….

[The FISA court] is not the right court to make the determination [about the domestic spying program's constitutionality].”

stop this bill and others like it:

* Take action now by visiting http://action.eff.org/fisa

* Spread the word to friends and family –

send along information on this page and link to EFF’s Action Center.

{strange stuff, life, Politics}

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Tags: Politics
Surveillance Bills, domestic spying, challenges related, legal challenges, national security, bill, court, surveillance, spy, government, compromise, Specter, stop, fisa, action

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 11:18 pm
and is filed under life, strange stuff.

Tags: Politics