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Administration Claimed Immunity To 4th Amendment

Posted by kdawson on from the unreasonable-searches-and-seizures dept.

mrogers writes "The EFF has uncovered a troubling footnote in a newly declassified Bush Administration memo, which asserts that 'our Office recently [in 2001] concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations.' This could mean that the Administration believes the NSA's warrantless wiretapping and data mining programs are not governed by the Constitution, which would cast Administration claims that the programs did not violate the Fourth Amendment in a whole new light — after all, you can't violate a law that doesn't apply. The claimed immunity would also cover other DoD agencies, such as CIFA, which carry out offline surveillance of political groups within the United States."

5 of 703 comments (clear)

  1. WTF by splatacaster · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    NO!!

  2. Re:Police State by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Especially in a country where everyone is allowed to have gun.

    Wake up people!

  3. Re:Police State by BVis · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Yeah, that's a good idea. What's worse than the typical dumbass redneck American? That same typical dumbass redneck American with a gun.

    Find me one study or article that supports home gun ownership as ensuring civil rights. (Difficulty: One that wasn't written by the NRA or one of its meat puppets in Congress.)

    Granted, most people interpret the second amendment to mean that Americans have a right to own a gun, and that that's a civil right. But read the actual text:

    A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
    Personally, I think that the meaning of this has been twisted over the years.
    --
    Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
  4. moderation? on /.? by reiisi · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    huh?

    --
    Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
  5. Re:More specifically.... by JJNess · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I'm sorry, so I get a troll because I oppose the blatant and approved display of what is damn-near a browser hijack link? There goes what little interest I had in the popularity contest that is these Scores... I could understand an "Off-Topic" score...