Fergie's Tech Blog

CDT Testifies Against Dangerous 'Update' of Surveillance Law

Via The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).

An effort gathering momentum in Congress to "update" the major law governing domestic surveillance could radically undermine the privacy of innocent Americans -- not just by legitimizing the administration's warantless surveillance programs -- but by granting this and future administrations unfettered authority to spy on Americans in the United States.

Testifying today before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, CDT Policy Director Jim Dempsey again urged lawmakers to seek a better understanding of the administration's shadowy surveillance programs before drastically rewriting the laws intended to govern them.

CDT has argued that it would be better to do nothing than to rush out an ill-considered bill. Last month, a judge ordered the Administration to halt its surveillance programs, finding that they violated the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- the law that some in Congress are attempting to "update."

posted by Fergie @ 9/06/2006 01:28:00 PM