Paul weighs Supreme Court challenge to NSA surveillance programs

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room ^ | June 9, 2013 | Meghashyam Mali

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday said he would examine ways to block the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs before the Supreme Court.

“I'm going to be seeing if I can challenge this at the Supreme Court level,” vowed Paul on “Fox News Sunday.”

“I’m going to be asking all the internet providers and all of the phone companies: Ask your customers to join me in a class action lawsuit. If we get 10 million Americans saying we don’t want our phone records looked at then maybe someone will wake up and something will change in Washington,” he said.

A report in the Guardian last week revealed that the NSA had sought information on phone numbers, and the location and duration of calls to help identify potential terror threats. A separate program, PRISM, sought information on foreign Internet users from American tech companies.

The disclosures unleashed a firestorm of criticism at the Obama administration’s record on civil liberties, coming weeks after news that the Justice Department had seized reporter records in leak investigation and after the Internal Revenue Service admitted targeting Tea Party groups....

[Black Agnes]

Betray Us stepped down and a muslim is in his place.

Who won that one again?

[Tau Food]

Earlier this week, Paul proposed that Congress pass a law stating that the government can't base its program on the Fourth Amendment. He should know, he must know that no one has been claiming that the Fourth Amendment is the source of power for the program. The source of power for the program is the government's power to provide for a national defense under the Constitution.

Now, he proposes that some other branch of government (Supreme Court) do something to stop the program.

Why doesn't he propose doing something that is within the power of the Congress to do - cut off funding for this data-gathering program? Ask yourself why he doesn't propose that, if he really wants to stop the program?

I think he's a phony. I think Rand Paul wants to appear as if he is opposed to a program that he actually supports.

This illustrates the difference between phonies like Rand Paul and guys like Ted Cruz. Cruz isn't afraid to be honest about his beliefs and isn't afraid to make proposals that might work.

[RoosterRedux]

If a man won't be threatened, you threaten his family.

Everyone has an Achilles heel. And now, Obama has the machine in place to find them all (that's what Maxine Waters meant when she announced that Obama has the goods on everyone).

He's unstoppable (or so he believes).

[CMB_polarization]

Can a State, for example Utah, set up a legal challenge on Constitutional grounds to NSA operations and impound the Utah Data Center?

Phone records could end up at NSA’s Utah Data Center

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56422716-90/phone-data-records-utah.html.csp

Artist's rendition of the National Security Agency's Utah Data Center at Camp Williams, Thursday, January 6, 2011. The cybersecurity facility is expected be completed and open October 2013.

[chris37]

There is no telling which way those lunatic judges will go.

I bet the will support it.

It’s simply time to defund and abolish the entire machine, even the SCOTUS.

[sportutegrl]

Silly Paul. You know the “Right to Privacy” “found” in the Constitution is only for abortion.

[GoldenPup]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday said he would examine ways to block the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs before the Supreme Court.

With Roberts in charge, this would merely be an exercize in "Mental Masturbation". It would create a lot of publicity for Paul while actually accomplishing absolutely nothing. SC would refuse to hear it.

[PghBaldy]

Ted Cruz? He has’t even criticized the PRISM program yet. He has been in office a few months, AFAIK. I’ll trust him more after he at lest says something about the biggest scandal of my lifetime.

[Carry_Okie]

"If we get 10 million Americans saying we don’t want our phone records looked at then maybe someone will wake up and something will change in Washington,” he said.

Uh, Rand, sweetheart, what about the phone calls, Internet transactions, and emails to be recorded at the Utah Data Center?

[mware]

His stand on this issue will gain him support from both sides of the political aisle.

[i_robot73]

At least there is ‘standing’ this time; they’ve admitted they ‘accidentally’ captured more than they should.

But, you’re right. If it goes and We win, how do We trust the gov’t to dismantle, delete and not just move it into another area/dept/etc.?

[Tau Food]

It's possible that Ted Cruz is smart enough to see that there isn't any simple way to change the current program. My criticism of Paul is that he keeps coming up with simpleton proposals that are certain to not change anything and I have to assume that he feels some compulsion to make proposals even though they are meaningless so that he can appear to be doing something.

The only way to really for Congress to stop this program is to cut off its funding. Why doesn't Paul propose that? The Congress doesn't have the power to tell the courts how to interpret the Constitution and the Congress doesn't have the power to tell the Executive branch how to interpret the Constitution. So, why does he propose a law that purports to tell these other branches how to interpret the Constitution when he knows it's not within the Congress's power to do so?

I'll tell you why he doesn't propose cutting the funding for the program. It's because he doesn't want to be seen as really doing anything that might be viewed as interfering with our national defense. He's a phony.

[Vaduz]

We can only hope for a sink hole.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It could get interesting. What if the SCOTUS ruled that, like Obamacare, government surveillance and databases and dossiers on all citizens are a tax?

This actually has some interesting possibilities, if you think about it. Kind of boggles the mind.

In a manner of speaking, privacy can be thought of as an “intangible asset”, which is still very real, like “business goodwill” is to a business, accounted for right alongside its physical assets. Estimated, of course.

When a business is sold, “personal goodwill” is taxable as a long-term capital gain to the seller (and amortized over 15 years by the buyer).

Once someone invades your privacy, either by invitation, criminally, or via intelligence gathering, you lose part of its value as an asset. So in this case, the SCOTUS could allow the government to levy a tax on it, just like businesses can be assessed and taxed on their good will.

[BAW]

Valerie to Barry: “Barry get the flunkies at the NSA to pull all the dirt on Rand Paul and those losers over the Supreme Court...and then have someone from the Cincinnati IRS give them each a phone call. Use back channels as always.”

Wonder if all these phone call records (and credit cards, stock transactions, bank info, etc) has anything to do with a reason Chief Justice Roberts changed his Obamacare vote? Hmmmmmmmm

[ncfool]

they have been collecting information on Rand Paul anybody associted with any Republican campaign for the last 4 years. This NSA scandal is the dirtiest thing ever done by a political opponent in US history. The dots need to be conected back to the WH.

They listened and spied in their opponents in the house and senate.

Seems that Holder when asked by Senator Kirk today had a great response.

“Can you assure us no members of the Capitol building were monitored?” asked Kirk. When Holder said he wouldn’t be able to answer that question in an “open forum,” Kirk interrupted him. “I think the correct answer is ‘we stayed within our lane and we did not spy on members of Congress.”

[manc]

the courts are a waste when judges are being black mailed , Roberts comes to mind right away and watch when the DOMA case comes forward and lets see what judges have been black mailed again

[Rodamala]

I disagree with your notion that solutions need to be complex. Very often the simplest solution is the best one... especially when economy of energy (or Dollars) is considered.

One low cost bullet, properly placed, would have saved a great deal of expense. Of course you realize I am speaking of Hitler... but the same goes for any tyrant, really.

[manc]

won’t be the first time Pail has said he opposes it and then he;s voted for it.

I;’d like to know why people have not been arrested and criminal charges have not been brought forward , with loss of jobs, jail time and loss of pensions.

These hearings are a joke as the dictators men are not giving evidence or answering questions and why is the white house closed too?

[nomad]

What about the rest of us? I`ll take a piece of that action, lets roll.
And while we`re at it, is there a defense fund being set up for the patriot who blew the lid off this latest O`Bozo scandal, I`ll chip a few bucks!