Debate Escalates on Domestic Spying Program

Following up on news that Judge Robinson resigned from the FISA court in protest over the administration’s warrantless surveillance program, related commentary and articles:

  • Warrantless Wiretapping: Why It Seriously Imperils the Separation of Powers, And Continues the Executive’s Sapping of Power From Congress and the Courts, by Edward Lazarus.
  • Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program: “One judge, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also said members could suggest disbanding the court in light of the president’s suggestion that he has the power to bypass the court.”
  • Experts Say Wiretap Fight May Taint Cases
  • Salon (reg. req’d, but readers can access it after viewing an advert first): Bush’s impeachable offense – Yes, the president committed a federal crime by wiretapping Americans, say constitutional scholars, former intelligence officers and politicians. What’s missing is the political will to impeach him.
  • Washington Times, Commentary by Bruce Fine: “President Bush presents a clear and present danger to the rule of law. He cannot be trusted to conduct the war against global terrorism with a decent respect for civil liberties and checks against executive abuses. Congress should swiftly enact a code that would require Mr. Bush to obtain legislative consent for every counterterrorism measure that would materially impair individual freedoms.”
  • Senator Byrd on Monday expressed his strong concerns about possible violations of the Constitution in the Bush Administration’s admitted practice of spying on American citizens.
  • ACLU Letter to Attorney General Gonzales Requesting the Appointment of Outside Special Counsel for the Investigation and Prosecution of Violations, or Conspiracy to Violate, Criminal Laws Against Warrantless Wiretapping of American Persons

    • Court Refuses U.S. Bid to Shift Terror Suspect

  • ruling and order in Padilla v. Hanft (14 pages, PDF)
  • Junior Aide Laid the Legal Basis For White House Terror Policies
  • Boxer Asks Specter to Hold Hearings on Bush’s Surveillance Program Before Hearings on Judge Alito
    • LinkedIn
    Posted in: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Legal Research, Privacy
    ➤