See,
warrantless wiretapping IS illegal.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled today that the warrantless wiretapping program as carried out by the
National Security Administration (NSA) is unconstitutional, as it violates our rights to free speech and privacy. Read her decision
here (pdf file), but to sum it up nicely, she states that the defendants "are permanently enjoined from directly or indirectly utilizing the
Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) in any way, including, but not limited to, conducting warrantless wiretaps of telephone and Internet communications, in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Title III."
She also noted that the program "violates the separation of powers doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, the First and Fourth amendments to the United States Constitution, the FISA and Title III."
Then she points out that our Chief Executive has also violated his oath of office:
"The president of the United States ... has undisputedly violated the Fourth (amendment) in failing to procure judicial orders."
And to confront the Administration's never-ending efforts to grab powers they do not, by law, have the right to posess, she went on to say: “There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution.”
It is amusing to observe Administration allies in Congress as they try to spin her adherence to 200 years of right to privacy precedents as "judicial activisim."
Judge Taylor's decision comes from a lawsuit filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which would still be counting me among its card carrying members if they could just refrain from sending me an endless stream of junk mail begging for contributions beyond my membership fee.
Labels: Judicial Review