[privacy] Bush Quietly Claims Sweeping Powers to Open Americans' Mail Without a Warrant

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

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Those darned signing statements again... 

Via MSNBC.

[snip]

A statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may
have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant.

The White House denies any change in policy, but civil libertarians are
alarmed, saying the government has never publicly claimed that power
before.

Federal law has long required a search warrant to open first class mail
unless postal inspectors suspect it contains something dangerous, like a
bomb or a hazardous chemical, reports NBC News' Pete Williams.

But in signing a postal bill just before Christmas, President Bush said
federal law also gives the government authority to open the mail "for
foreign intelligence collection."

[snip]

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16472777/

- - ferg

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

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