Raising the Spector of sanctioned spying


The Spector FISA bill is a bad idea that protects an Administration from the very objections in the current court case against the Bush Administration wiretap efforts

I haven't had the chance to delve into the Specter FISA bill, otherwise known as "anti-antispy bill." Fortunately, Glen Greenwald has.

First, it requires (if the Attorney General requests it, which he will) that all pending cases challenging the legality of the NSA program (which includes the EFF and ACLU cases) be transferred to the secret FISA court. Thus, the insufficiently deferential federal judges would have these cases taken away from them. Second, it would make judicial review of the administration's behavior virtually impossible, as it specifically prohibits (Sec. 702(b)(2)) the FISA court from "requir(ing) the disclosure of national security information . . . without the approval of the Director of National Intelligence of the Attorney General." That all but prevents any discovery in these lawsuits. Third, it quite oddly authorizes (Sec. 702(b)(6)) the FISA court to "dismiss a challenge to the legality of an electronic surveillance program for any reason" (emphasis added). Arguably, that provision broadens the authority of the court to dismiss any such lawsuit for the most discretionary of reasons, even beyond the already wide parameters of the "state secrets" doctrine.

Even if you think the Bush Administration can be trusted with this power (and I certainly don't), it opens the gates wide for future abuses of power.

Repeat after me. Secret government actions destroy freedom.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - July 21, 2006 at 07:11 PM  Tag


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