Monday, December 19, 2005
Does Bush’s Domestic Spying Violate the Law?
Amendment IV to the Constitution of the United States
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
It’s simple. There are no exceptions. No one – not congress nor the president – has the legal power or authority to make exceptions.
The congress cannot grant the president permission to conduct warrantless searches. The president cannot grant himself this power. The president should be impeached, quickly. He is a criminal. He has violated the Constitution, he has violated his oath of office, and he has violated the rights of Americans. It’s time to stop this despot before his ways of doing things become entrenched. If Bush gets away with these crimes, the 4th Amendment will be rendered meaningless, and we will all be subject to search and seizure at any time, with no oversight.
We're also losing the 5th and 6th Amendments (jury trials, due process, speedy public trials, habeus corpus) and the 8th (cruel and unusual punishment). George Bush's legacy will be the institutionalization of a police state in America if he's not stopped.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
It’s simple. There are no exceptions. No one – not congress nor the president – has the legal power or authority to make exceptions.
The congress cannot grant the president permission to conduct warrantless searches. The president cannot grant himself this power. The president should be impeached, quickly. He is a criminal. He has violated the Constitution, he has violated his oath of office, and he has violated the rights of Americans. It’s time to stop this despot before his ways of doing things become entrenched. If Bush gets away with these crimes, the 4th Amendment will be rendered meaningless, and we will all be subject to search and seizure at any time, with no oversight.
We're also losing the 5th and 6th Amendments (jury trials, due process, speedy public trials, habeus corpus) and the 8th (cruel and unusual punishment). George Bush's legacy will be the institutionalization of a police state in America if he's not stopped.
Comments:
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What's surprising is that it's already so easy for the NSA to get a warrant from the FISC. How ambiguous was the info DoJ needed that they had to bypass the most permissive court in the country for search and seizure?
If Givernment's point is that the courts don't understand the Constitution either, then the point is well-taken. (I hope your point wasn't "see, it's actually legal, the court sez so.")
Brian, you're also right on target, although I suspect that the FISA is also unconstitutional. And as you point out on Stalinist Orange, the FISC's ability to issue retroactive warrants really damns Bush's argument.
I should add that I'm not so naive as to think that the feds haven't been violating the Cosntitution wholesale in the past. But the current admin's actions are so open and so blatant as to appear to end any import of the document, if they get away with this.
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Brian, you're also right on target, although I suspect that the FISA is also unconstitutional. And as you point out on Stalinist Orange, the FISC's ability to issue retroactive warrants really damns Bush's argument.
I should add that I'm not so naive as to think that the feds haven't been violating the Cosntitution wholesale in the past. But the current admin's actions are so open and so blatant as to appear to end any import of the document, if they get away with this.
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