[privacy] Specter Strikes NSA Deal

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Uh oh.

Well, so much for ever finding out if what the Bush
administration is doing is actually legal, or not.

Via The Hill.

[snip]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and conservative members of his panel have reached agreement 
on legislation that may determine the legality of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance program, GOP 
sources say.

Specter has mollified conservative opposition to his bill by agreeing to drop the requirement that the Bush 
administration seek a legal judgment on the program from a special court set up by the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978.

Instead, Specter agreed to allow the administration to retain an important legal defense by allowing the court, which 
holds its hearings in secret, to review the program only by hearing a challenge from a plaintiff with legal standing, 
said a person familiar with the text of language agreed to by Specter and committee conservatives.

Conservative Republicans who pushed for the change say that it will help quell concerns about the measure’s 
constitutionality and allow the White House to retain a basic legal defense.

An expert in constitutional law and national security, however, said that the change would allow the administration to 
throw up huge obstacles to anyone seeking to challenge the program’s legality.

[snip]

More here:
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/051606/news1.html

Ironically, today [16 May] is also the 88th anniversary of the anactment of the Sedition Act of 1918. However, as 
opposed to
arresting and jailing anyone who speaks out against the government's
policies, it looks like they'll just keep their activities secret
from the American public.


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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