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ACLU Sues Anaheim Police For Public Records On Cell Phone Surveillance (scpr.org)
New submitter Lacey Waymire writes: The ACLU of Northern California is suing for a release of public records regarding Anaheim police's use of cell phone surveillance devices. "We don't think any surveillance devices, particularly these sorts of invasive cell phone surveillance devices, should ever be acquired or used without intense public debate and the adoption of safeguards to ensure they are only used in ways that follow our Constitution and laws," attorney Matt Cagle said. (See this Boing Boing posting with a bit more on "the happiest surveillance state on earth.")
You see, the whole "NDAs that are legally binding" argument seems like complete BS. IANAL, but in my adult life having to deal with quite a few contracts, I have learned a few things. One of them being that contract law is literally the lowest form of law in existence. If a clause in a contract contradicts a law at any higher level, that clause is automatically null and void. If I sign a contract that says you are allowed to kill me, if you kill me, that clause in the contract will be found void, and you will still be found guilty of murder. If I sign a contract stating that I will not sue if I'm injured while participating in an event, but it is found the people running the event were negligent, that clause becomes void and I can sue. It happens over and over. The case law on this is abundant, contract law is one of the lowest, if not the lowest form of law and is superseded by anything higher. And now you have FOIA, a federal law which is one of the highest levels of law which most certainly states that this information must be provided. According to so much case law, certainly that NDA is immediately rendered null and void since it contradicts a federal law. No, this is the government making BS excuses, nothing more. I hate to say it, but a case like this is already settled. Contracts are always overruled by laws.