Rev. Geoffrey Kainz
August 23rd 07, 06:26 AM
the normal constitutional standards for
* searches and seizures. Non-government personnel are not allowed.
* The courts files cannot be publicly reviewed.
*
* The average U.S. citizen might reasonably assume use of this court
* is at the least: unusual.
*
* It is not. In fact, in the United States today it is increasingly
* common. In 1994, federal courts authorized more wiretaps for
* intelligence-gathering and national security purposes than they
* did to investigate ordinary federal crimes.
*
* The review process to prevent legal and factual errors is virtually
* non-existent.
*
* And the FISA system's courtroom advocacy is monumentally one-sided.
*
* The court has never formally rejected an application. Not once.
*
* For the first time in modern U.S. history, the Congress had
* institutionalized a process for physical searches outside of
* Fourth Amendment standards.
*
* Not even Congress' intelligence oversight committees review these
* special cases on a regular basis.
Mini-recap:
o Congress voted into existence a court that bypasses our normal
Fourth Amendment constitutional rights. Poof they're gone.
o Congressional oversite is weak.
Such a special court should be subject to the
highest standard of continual scrutiny: it is not.
! The New York Times, December 29, 19??, by David Burnham
!
* searches and seizures. Non-government personnel are not allowed.
* The courts files cannot be publicly reviewed.
*
* The average U.S. citizen might reasonably assume use of this court
* is at the least: unusual.
*
* It is not. In fact, in the United States today it is increasingly
* common. In 1994, federal courts authorized more wiretaps for
* intelligence-gathering and national security purposes than they
* did to investigate ordinary federal crimes.
*
* The review process to prevent legal and factual errors is virtually
* non-existent.
*
* And the FISA system's courtroom advocacy is monumentally one-sided.
*
* The court has never formally rejected an application. Not once.
*
* For the first time in modern U.S. history, the Congress had
* institutionalized a process for physical searches outside of
* Fourth Amendment standards.
*
* Not even Congress' intelligence oversight committees review these
* special cases on a regular basis.
Mini-recap:
o Congress voted into existence a court that bypasses our normal
Fourth Amendment constitutional rights. Poof they're gone.
o Congressional oversite is weak.
Such a special court should be subject to the
highest standard of continual scrutiny: it is not.
! The New York Times, December 29, 19??, by David Burnham
!