Thursday, June 29, 2006
Department of Defense Admits to Wider Surveillance of Don't Ask, Don't Tell Groups
“In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Defense has released documents that show wider surveillance of student organizations than previously reported, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has reported.” According to Truthout, “The new FOIA request yielded information about an undercover investigation by the Pentagon on acitivities into student groups protesting the war at State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany), William Paterson University in New Jersey, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of California at Berkeley, reports SLDN.”
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Legality of US Bank Data Searches Probed in Belgium
According to Reuters, “Belgium's government said on Monday it was investigating the legality of counter-terrorism searches by U.S. officials of thousands of private records held by Brussels-based international bank cooperative SWIFT.” The investigation stems from last week’s U.S. media reports that the U.S. Treasury Department had been tapping into international financial records for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) since September 11, 2001 for evidence of potential activity by terrorist groups.
Court Review of Wiretaps May Be Near, Senator Says
The New York Times reports, “Senator Arlen Specter said Sunday that the White House and Congress were close to reaching a resolution on submitting a National Security Agency wiretap program to judicial review.” Commenting on the situation while on “Fox News Sunday,” Senator Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, “I think there is an inclination to have it submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and that would be a big step forward for protection of constitutional rights and civil liberties.”
Congress May Bestow Unchecked Spying Powers on President
“While dozens of lawsuits challenging the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance of Americans slowly move through the courts, the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to consider legislation that would effectively legalize the practice.” According to The New Standard, “Civil-rights advocates and constitutional-law experts say several proposed bills attempt to ‘whitewash’ executive wrongdoing before Congress has the opportunity to conduct hearings and gather the facts surrounding the National Security Agency's involvement in warrantless wiretapping and telecommunications data mining.”
Friday, June 16, 2006
Federal Government Tries to Block New Jersey Officials From Getting Phone Company Records
“The federal government sued the New Jersey attorney general and other state officials Wednesday to stop them from seeking information about telephone companies' cooperation with the National Security Agency.” According to FindLaw, “The unusual filing in U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey, is the latest effort by federal authorities to halt legal proceedings aimed at revealing whether and how often AT&T, Verizon and other phone companies have provided customer records to the NSA without a court order.”
ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Anti-War Group Monitoring
Reuters reports, “The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday to demand information it says the government has collected on groups opposed to the war in Iraq.” According to the report, “The group says the Pentagon has been monitoring anti-war groups and individuals and has compiled lists on people it sees as potential threats but who the ACLU says are exercising their free-speech rights.”
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
U.S. Defends Warrantless Domestic Spying
The Associated Press reports, “The government's warrantless domestic spying faced its first courtroom test Monday, with the Bush administration arguing that the program is well within the president's authority but that proving it would require revealing state secrets.”
Monday, June 12, 2006
Specter Offers Compromise on NSA Surveillance
“The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed legislation that would give President Bush the option of seeking a warrant from a special court for an electronic surveillance program such as the one being conducted by the National Security Agency.” According to The Washington Post, “Sen. Arlen Specter's approach modifies his earlier position that the NSA eavesdropping program, which targets international telephone calls and e-mails in which one party is suspected of links to terrorists, must be subject to supervision by the secret court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).”
Divided Appeals Court Sides with Bush Administration on Wiretap Issue
“A federal appeals court sided with the Bush administration Friday on an electronic surveillance issue, making it easier to tap into Internet phone calls and broadband transmissions,” reports FindLaw. “The court ruled 2-1 in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which says equipment using the new technologies must be able to accommodate police wiretaps under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, known as CALEA.”
