Federal Court Upholds Wiretap Law
http://www.truthout.org:80/011509R
Warrantless eavesdropping on international communication within
bounds
of the law, appeals court rules.
Washington - A U.S. Foreign Intelligence court released a ruling
Thursday upholding the right of the president and Congress to wiretap
private international phone conversations and intercept e-mail
messages without a court-issued warrant.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Appeals Court released an
unclassified version of an August 2008 ruling that seems to validate
President George W. Bush's claim that the government can act without
court orders in gathering foreign intelligence.
The Bush administration came under heated criticism three years
ago when a National Security Agency's program for warrantless
eavesdropping was revealed. In 2007, Congress passed the Protect
America Act, which authorized the executive branch to eavesdrop on
international communication without court orders. The ruling released
Thursday dealt with that law.
An unnamed telecommunications company challenged the
constitutionality of the Protect America Act law last year, but the
FISA court ruled that Congress acted within its authority when it
passed the law.
When it was originally enacted, the Protect America Act was a
temporary measure, granting President Bush the wide range of
intelligence gathering tools for six months, to be used for foreign
intelligence gathering related to the war on terrorism. After
Democrats initially blocked the law's renewal in early 2008, Congress
approved a slightly modified version in June.
While the court released the once-secret opinion, Attorney
General-
designate Eric Holder was answering questions about the legality of
the nation’s controversial warrantless surveillance programs during
his Senate confirmation hearing.
"Holder, for his part, pledged to do a 'damage assessment' review
of this policy and practice on behalf of the Justice Department. The
juxtaposition between the two simultaneous events - like two ships
crossing in the night - was striking," writes CBS News chief legal
analyst Andrew Cohen.
During his time in the Senate, President-elect Barack Obama
endorsed the latest version of the current administration’s
surveillance policy. That means that Holder now must gingerly
evaluate
how the warrantless program came about, whether it is working to its
fullest extent, whether and to what extent it reaches too far in
infringing constitutional privacy rights, and what can be done if it
does.
On Thursday morning, Holder was clear in telling the Senate
Judiciary Committee that he believes the president has power within
Article II of the Constitution (like the power to eavesdrop) that the
Congress may not take away, writes Cohen.
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