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Retroactive Blessing to Spy?


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23 replies to this topic

#16 spy1

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Posted 20 September 2006 - 12:12 PM

http://action.aclu.o...pcoha591.app20a

Trying to make themselves look “tough on terrorism” just in time for the November elections the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist want to combine into one bill legislation that would ratify the unconstitutional and unlawful NSA warrantless spying program and the president’s illegal military commissions.

The president is pushing this legislation despite opposition from members of his own party who are concerned about the civil liberties implications of these two separate issues.

Bill Frist’s “Terrorist Tracking, Identification, and Prosecution Act of 2006,” (S. 3886) would combine the Cheney-Specter Bill to allow warrantless spying on Americans with military tribunals legislation that would gut the Geneva Conventions and allow secret evidence to be used to convict detainees held in Guantanamo. Making legislators either vote for or against these issues in one big bill shortcircuits the opportunity for these very important issues to be debated separately with full deliberation about the consequences for America if the law is so radically changed.

https://secure.aclu....pcoha591.app20a
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

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#17 spy1

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Posted 21 September 2006 - 11:17 PM

From this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2...m.ap/index.html

"Nevertheless, a bill by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-New Mexico, gained steam Wednesday after she rewrote it to allow warrantless wiretapping when an attack is imminent, as Bush has demanded."

...

"He (Frist) spoke as House Republicans moved closer to the administration's position on domestic wiretapping.

Wilson's bill initially would have given legal status to Bush's domestic surveillance program only after an attack. Instead, her bill now would grant the administration's plea to allow wiretapping against Americans without warrants when it is believed ( ? ! - Pete) a terrorist attack is imminent."

...

"The bill also would prevent the president or his designee from authorizing the surveillance of a person unless they have "a reasonable belief" (What is that supposed to mean? - Pete) that the subject is communicating with a group responsible for the imminent threat, and that the information obtained "may be foreign intelligence information."

(They're killin' me here - you could drive a train through a definition that loose! - Pete)

People, this proposed "bill" isn't any kind of a law - it's a hunting license (and it's open season on whoever gets in their sights). The thrust of every bill now being considered has only two aims:

(1) to totally excuse the Presidents' existing violations of law (illegal actions) in regard to illegal wiretapping and

(2) to expand those already excessive powers.

Call your legislators before it's too late. Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#18 spy1

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Posted 25 September 2006 - 08:34 AM

I haven't seen this hard a push - and so many various bills - all aimed at

(a) totally excusing the illegal actions of a President and

(B) so totally focused on allowing even more privacy-and-freedom-destroying programs to be either initiated in the future or to bless existing secret programs that they've been able to keep a lid on

since the re-authorization of the 'patriot' act.

My today's E.F.F newsletter states the situation starkly and distinctly:

" EFFector 19.36: URGENT Action Alert - Last Chance to Stop the Surveillance Bills Before the Election!

For the last two months, your phone calls and letters have
helped hold back the dangerous surveillance bills in
Congress. These bills threaten vigorous judicial oversight
of the illegal NSA spying program and let the government off
the hook for breaking the law.

Without exaggeration, these bills represent the greatest
expansion of government surveillance power ever considered
by Congress.

Now various Senators are trying to rush these bills through
at the last minute, prior to Congress' October recess. Even
if you have called your Senator about these bills before, it
is critical that you do so again now and help stop the
illegal surveillance:
http://action.eff.org/fisa "

And that, my friends, is the truth. Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#19 spy1

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Posted 26 September 2006 - 07:49 AM

If you can read this digest of the facets of the various bills:

http://www.cdt.org/p...cyposts/2006/17

and not reach for the phone to call both of your Senators, at least you'll get to see what you're implicitly approving of by your silence. Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#20 spy1

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Posted 29 September 2006 - 07:54 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2...g.ap/index.html

"House approves wiretap law before hitting campaign trail

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House approved a bill Thursday that would grant legal status to President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program with new restrictions.

....

the bill passed 232-191.

....

For its part, the White House announced it strongly supported passage of the House version but wasn't satisfied with it, adding that the administration "looks forward to working with Congress to strengthen the bill as it moves through the legislative process."

....

A federal judge in Detroit who struck down the warrantless surveillance program turned aside a government request for an indefinite stay Thursday. U.S. Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the government could have a week to appeal."

=================================================

Well, enough Reps in the House caved to party-line pressure to pass Wilson's bill (or they simply didn't care or take the time to actually read the changes made to it).

Hopefully, the Senate will stall on even bringing it to a vote, or be unable to reconcile the vast differences between the House bill and the Senate bills until after November - it'll give them more time to actually hear from their constituents, maybe even realize what it is they're actually voting on.

Notice how even Wilson's bill isn't good enough for the White House? How it has to be "strengthened'? Perhaps it doesn't CYA the current Administration enough quite yet? Still a little too much "oversight" and "accountability" left in to suit the Pres? Wording not quite loose enough to sail the Queen Mary through?

And how is the Administration going to re-act to Judge Taylor's one-week deadline for appeal of her decision?

Want to see the true nature of your government?

Stay tuned. Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#21 spy1

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Posted 29 September 2006 - 10:00 AM

http://www.foxnews.c...,216367,00.html
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#22 spy1

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Posted 30 September 2006 - 04:15 PM

Saturday, September 30, 2006 Congress Has Left the Building! The president won't get a blank check on illegal spying today. The Senate just adjourned and now both houses are in recess until 11/9--they'll come in that day for bills to be introduced, but there will be no votes that day. The Senate returns for votes starting at 2 p.m. on 11/13 for the "lame duck" session. The Senate did NOT vote on the NSA bill (Frist or Wilson). They passed several conference reports which we believe did not include any bad warrantless wiretapping authorization or immunization provisions. Thanks to you!! Thanks to all of your efforts!! This is a major victory, especially with the election so close and so much political pressure to push these bad ideas into law. Together, we've managed to hold off passage of legislation that would give the administration a blank check and a free pass on warrantless NSA spying on Americans. The president's illegal wiretapping continues, but the law has not been changed to legalize warrantless spying on ordinary Americans. The country is indeed better off with the status quo than with legislation that would whitewash and ratify this spying. As you know, the president already has ample legal authorities to track and wiretap suspected terrorists--what he and no president should have is the power to unilaterally, secretly, and indefinitely wiretap Americans without court oversight of individual warrants to safeguard our fundamental rights to privacy, liberty and due process of law. It has been a pitched battle, but today we have prevailed! And Congress has left town without gutting the statutory protections that preserve our Fourth Amendment rights. The vote on the Wilson bill was closer than on the Patriot Act reauthorization, and friends of the Fourth Amendment in Congress have resisted efforts to make these NSA bills into law this week. We're seeing a growing recognition of the need for checks and balances, and now we must build on that. We have work to do later next week and in October before Congress's lame duck session to make sure people understand what blank checks the White House-Wilson and Frist bills are. But for now we should savor this. And rest. With deepest gratitude, Lisa Posted by Lisa Graves, ACLU Legislative Counsel in Illegal Spying at 03:27 | ================================================= A temporary respite - I'll enjoy that. I thank every single one of you who contacted your Reps (either way). Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#23 spy1

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Posted 05 October 2006 - 11:36 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2...g.ap/index.html

"Court allows NSA surveillance program during appeal"

=======================================================

While we can't do anything about the course this will take through the Judiciary system, we can do everything in our power to make sure that the current Administration does not get a free pass due to any laws getting passed that will allow them to claim retroactive immunity from past, present or future legal actions.

That part's still all up to us. Pete
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

#24 spy1

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Posted 09 November 2006 - 01:41 PM

http://www.eff.org/n...6_11.php#004990

EFF Battles Effort to Dismiss Surveillance Lawsuit

San Francisco - The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals announced today that it will hear the U.S. government's and AT&T's appeal of a district court's decision allowing the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) case against AT&T to go forward. The lawsuit alleges that AT&T collaborated in the National Security Agency's (NSA's) illegal spying program. The 9th Circuit did not rule on the merits of the appeal.

By this appeal, the U.S. government and AT&T are asserting that the so-called "state secret privilege" prevents the federal judiciary from determining whether the spying program is legal or not. In July, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Judge Walker ruled that the case could continue, noting that "The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one. But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

"It remains the province and the duty of the courts to determine whether the spying program broke the law, and the courts are quite capable of proceeding while respecting both liberty and security," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "We are looking forward to litigating before the 9th Circuit on this important matter."

EFF filed the class-action suit against AT&T in January, alleging that the company has given the NSA secret, direct access to the telephone calls and emails going over its network. In a separate case, a federal judge in Detroit ruled in August that the entire program was unconstitutional.

Judge Walker has set a case management conference for November 17th to consider how EFF's lawsuit and other suits against telecommunications companies can go forward. The hearing will start at 10:30am at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

For the full order from the 9th Circuit:
http://www.eff.org/l...pealgranted.pdf

For more on the class-action lawsuit against AT&T:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington

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