U.S. ceases warrantless spy operation, Domestic surveillance to be conducted only wi

[OrangeEmpire]

The press is reporting today that Bush has reversed his policy on domestic spying:

Secret court to oversee wiretapping

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 18, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The White House said yesterday that it has agreed to seek warrants from a secret court before eavesdropping on the phone calls of Americans, saying that it has reached an agreement with a judge of the court to make the approval process quicker and more efficient.

Administration officials informed Congress that the judge, who was not named, has already issued "innovative" orders authorizing the government to target phone calls and e-mails between people in the United States and foreigners when there is "probable cause" to believe one of the participants is part of a terrorist group.

The administration did not back down from President Bush's claim that he has the wartime authority to bypass a law requiring warrants to spy on Americans. But the Justice Department, after secret discussions with the judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, determined that it no longer needed to bypass the warrant law, because the approval process would be quicker.

However, this new arrangement is not without controversy:

Legal specialists speculated, however, that the judge might have agreed to give the government authority to tap all calls from certain people or locations, or even broader authority to set wiretaps based on its own determination of probable cause, to be reviewed at a later time.

Thoughts?

k:

 

[OWB]

I won't disagree with it just because I don't want to get arrested for no reason, not have a chance to fight whatever it is in court and then be put to death all in a place that nobody knows about.

America the beautiful..