January 10, 2014

Judges Negated Fourth Amendment


[From article]
And in his recent NSA decision, Judge Leon alerted future U.S. historians and students to this: The Bush and Obama administrations, along with compliant Congresses, had not been able to show a "single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature."
Meanwhile, all of us lost our Fourth Amendment rights to personal privacy.
"The judge," according to The New York Times, "wrote that James Madison 'would be aghast' at the degree of privacy invasion the data sweep represents."
[. . .]
Whether or not you agree with this judge, whom I regard as a hero of the Constitution, it's clear that there would not have been a case to judge had it not been for the "leaks" -- the disclosure of so many other government acts of contempt for our personal privacy -- by Edward Snowden, the former contractor for the NSA.
I've already noted that, depending on the candidates for the presidency in 2016, I may write in Snowden for the Oval Office.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff010214.php3#.Uswl8900i6Y

Jewish World Review 
Jan. 2, 2014/ 1 Shevat, 5774 
Are heroes of the Constitution bringing it back?
By Nat Hentoff

No comments: