…but all is not, yet, lost…
Judge rules secret FBI letters unconstitutional
SAN FRANCISCO — They’re called national security letters and the FBI issues thousands of them a year to banks, phone companies and other businesses demanding customer information. They’re sent without judicial review and recipients are barred from disclosing them.On Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco declared the letters unconstitutional, saying the secretive demands for customer data violate the First Amendment.
The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy “serve the compelling need of national security,” and the gag order creates “too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted,” U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wrote.
She ordered the FBI to stop issuing the letters, but put that order on hold for 90 days so the U.S. Department of Justice can pursue an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The DOJ said it is reviewing the decision.
FBI counter-terrorism agents began issuing the letters after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
More at the above link. Apparently, not everyone in government supports the push toward totalitarianism.
Funny how the congress keeps passing more legislation ‘to protect us’, and instead constrains us.
I have little doubt TPTB will figure out a way to ignore the courts, just as they have for the last decade or so. But it’s always encouraging to discover that there are still honest judges on the bench.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from this Irishman to you.
Posted by Rev. Paul | March 17, 2013, 10:06 amThanks, good sir!
Posted by guffaw1952 | March 17, 2013, 10:44 amFinally, an honest judge… But it will be overturned on appeal…
Posted by Old NFO | March 17, 2013, 11:50 amNow, Old NFO…THAT’S not cynical!
Posted by guffaw1952 | March 17, 2013, 2:11 pm