Fergie's Tech Blog

Bush, Justice Department Get 'Muzzle' Awards

An AP newswire article, via CNN, reports that:

President Bush and the Justice Department are among the winners of the 2006 Jefferson Muzzle Awards, given by a free-speech group to those it considers the most egregious First Amendment violators in the past year.

Bush led the list, compiled by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, for authorizing the National Security Agency to tap the phones of U.S. citizens who make calls overseas. The wiretaps were conducted without authorization from a federal court. The White House defended the warrantless wiretapping program as necessary to fight terrorism.

The Justice Department earned a Muzzle for demanding that Google turn over thousands of Internet records, prompting concerns that more invasive requests could follow if the government prevails.

posted by Fergie @ 4/11/2006 02:21:00 PM