Nasty bits of Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional
A New York District judge struck down some key provisions of the Patriot Act yesterday. Judge Marrero ruled that the use of National Security Letters by the FBI must stop. These letters were issued by mid-level FBI agents (with no outside or judicial review) and handed to service providers, ISPs or telephone companies, requiring them to turn over customer records. The companies were barred by law from informing the client that they were being investigated.
Judge Marrero's ruling stated that usage of the National Security Letters violated Americans' First Amendment rights and constitutional separation of powers, presumably those of the judicial branch, because courts had little or no opportunity to review these orders.
The Bushies will undoubtedly appeal the ruling, but until then, the practice will stop.
This ruling made my week because it blocked one of the more egregious privacy violations perpetrated by the Bush administration. These FBI letters gave law enforcement a blank check to investigate Americans for essentially any reason. Several reports have come out this summer indicating that the FBI did in fact, abuse these letters, in thousands of cases, no less.
Our nation is built on checks and balances. Every action taken by a public official should be reviewed by SOMEONE. Anyone who claims that what they're doing is too important to be subject to any external review is too arrogant. Watch them.
Posted on September 07, 2007
