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New Bill Would Declassify FISC Opinions
Trailrunner7 writes "A group of eight senators from both parties have introduced a new bill that would require the attorney general to declassify as many of the rulings of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as possible as a way of bringing into the sunlight much of the law and opinion that guides the government's surveillance efforts. Under the terms of the proposed law, the Justice Department would be required to declassify major FISC opinions as a way to give Americans a view into how the federal government is using the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Patriot Act. If the attorney general determines that a specific ruling can't be declassified without endangering national security, he can declassify a summary of it. If even that isn't possible, then the AG would need to explain specifically why the opinion needs to be kept secret."
America runs on a series of checks and balances: congress can create a law and the president can sign it or override it with a veto; if the president vetoes it, then an overwhelming vote in congress can override the veto; if a bill is passed in congress and the president signs it into law then the supreme court can still strike it down if it isn't constitutional; and if all of these things fail, Americans can vote people into office whose ideas are more closely aligned with their own.
However, if the American people are denied the very knowledge that their government is acting in a way anathema to the interests of a free society, we cannot make a knowledgeable decision when we vote. The penultimate check and balance Americans have at their disposal will be based on opinions created with misinformation or no knowledge at all of what their chosen representative's are actually doing.
The American public cannot be left in the dark and still make informed decisions when we choose the people to represent us in government.