American Bar Association Slams Bush's Domestic Spying Program

All Headline News ^ | Tue, 14 Feb 2006 01:00:02 GMT | Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The American Bar Association wants President George W. Bush to either stop domestic eavesdropping without a warrant or get the law changed to make it legal.

The more than 500 members of the ABA policy-setting body passed a resolution saying that both national security and constitutional freedoms needed to be protected.

Association president Michael Grecco tells reporters, "We hope the President will listen... We do not say surveillance should be stopped, only that it comply with the law."

Authorized by Bush in 2001, the program allows the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens to track people with ties to al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

The White House says warrant-less eavesdropping is legal under Bush's constitutional powers as commander-in-chief and a congressional authorization for the use of military force adopted days after the September 11 attacks.

The program bypassed secret courts created under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that grant warrants.

Neal Sonnett, a Miami lawyer who headed the task force formed to look at the issue not long after the spying program came to light in December.

"We are not trying to limit the President's ability to go after terrorists," Sonnett tells the group's House of Delegates before it passed his task force's resolution with relatively little debate.

"Nobody wants to hamstring the President," he adds, "But we cannot allow the U.S. Constitution and our rights to become a victim of terrorism."

Grecco tells the group the issue is not whether the President can conduct surveillance, but whether he can do it unilaterally.

The ABA's resolution calls on Bush "to abide by the limitations which the Constitution imposes on a President" to make sure national security is protected in a way that is consistent with constitutional guarantees.

It opposes "any future electronic surveillance inside the United States by any U.S. government agency for foreign intelligence purposes that does not comply with provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

If Bush believes that law is inadequate then he should ask Congress to change it or enact new legislation, it adds.

[CWOJackson]

"American Bar Association Slams Bush's Domestic Spying Program...Vice President Cheney to deliver the President's response."

[onyx]

FGS!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Seems only fair that Cheney peppered a lawyer.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Do lawyers take a Hippocratic Oath?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Who cares what a private club of leftist lawyers think?

[onyx]

Hypocritical oath.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Not sure how Powerline News is set up for retrieval of their News article....

May not be able to find this one tomorrow.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!

OK!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

"First, do no harm": Not in the Hippocratic Oath

Lawyers probably rewrote it !!

[MJY1288]

Considering that it is NOT a Domestic Spying Program, this is yet another worthless diatribe from the usual suspects

[onyx]

I think it's always been, at least do no harm, but husband is asleep and I'm not about to wake him!

[guinnessman]

And these people call themselves lawyers?

Somebody should show them a copy of the U.S. Constitution, and point out Article 2, Section 2.

Or better yet, ask them to define the phrase, "Co-equal branch of government"

[lndrvr1972]

But of course they do not have a problem of bilking the tax payers for thier erouneous accounts for frivilous lawsuits. What a bunch of bastards

[Hypervigilant]

If the ABA hates it, then I love it.

[onyx]

They fight "losers pay" legislation with all their politicAl muscle. Bastards, indeed!

[DoNotDivide]

I'd like to BODY SLAM the ABA! So there!!

[Howlin]

It opposes "any future electronic surveillance inside the United States by any U.S. government agency for foreign intelligence purposes that does not comply with provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

Appeals panel rejects secret court's limits on terrorist wiretaps

From Terry Frieden
CNN
Tuesday, November 19, 2002 Posted: 1:24 AM EST (0624 GMT)

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	VIDEO CNN's Kelli Arena says a U.S. appeals court ruling allows broad wiretap authority in the hunt for terrorists (November 18)
	MORE STORIES Justice appeals court ruling limiting information sharing
	RESOURCES • Opinion: Three-judge panel's decision  • FISA court's ruling, May 17, 2002  (FindLaw, PDF)
	SPECIAL REPORT • Interactive: • Audio slide show: •  • Special report: Terror on tape • Special report: War against terror

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has broad authority to use wiretaps and other surveillance techniques to hunt for suspected terrorists, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday.

In a 56-page opinion overturning a May decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge panel said the expanded wiretap guidelines sought by Attorney General John Ashcroft under the new USA Patriot Act law do not violate the Constitution. (More on the USA Patriot Act)

The ruling by the special panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia gives broad surveillance authority to counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism investigators to track individuals considered potential national security threats.

"Our case may well involve the most serious threat our country faces," the panel declared.

The reversal of May's decision by a federal judge represents a victory for the Justice Department and the FBI, which were harshly criticized by the lower court judge for its handling of wiretap applications, and their interpretation of the authority granted the government by the USA Patriot Act.

[monkapotamus]

The United States needs at least one other association for the national accreditation of law schools.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks Howlin....I am confused by the ABA even doing their resolution....aren't there members other than Criminal Defense Lasyers in the ABA?