CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Posted on 06/20/2013 5:11:06 PM PDT by BarnacleCenturion
The National Security Agency has spent years demanding that companies turn over their data. Now, the spy agency finds the shoe is on the other foot. A defendant in a Florida murder trial says telephone records collected by the NSA as part of its surveillance programs hold evidence that would help prove his innocence, and his lawyer has demanded that prosecutors produce those records. On Wednesday, the federal government filed a motion saying it would refuse, citing national security. But experts say the novel legal argument could encourage other lawyers to fight for access to the newly disclosed NSA surveillance database.
...
The laws of evidence require that prosecutors turn over to the defense any records they have that might help prove a suspect's innocence.
"This opens up a Pandora's box," said Mark Rasch, former head of the Department of Justice Computer Crimes Unit, and now an independent consultant. “You will have situations where the phone companies no longer have the data, but the government does, and lawyers will try to get that data.”
(Excerpt) Read more at redtape.nbcnews.com ...
I remember when you could get onto the DMV website and look up the name, address, and phone number of anyone based on their license plate number. And then people started using (or rather abusing) the system by calling people who, say, cut them off in traffic. I know one person who actually did that. I’m not in favor of the government handing out personal information, but I’m also not in favor of the government getting it in the first place unless it is volunteered. This data is not volunteered.
Well, I’d think even a sympathetic judge would want to know why he didn’t ask his phone company first.
True that there is no ‘Right to Privacy’ (only the S.C. could make up that whole cloth), but it is a far cry re: 4th when ‘public information’, per the gov’t, contains everything down to your genome.
The Constitution, being the base of our gov’t and Rule of Law, this whole ‘national security’ tripe is just that...B.S. You can have one, not both.
And all it will take is just ONE judge, to set it in motion.
the trick isn’t who he called and when... it’s everything else
location data showing where he was and when, independent of being on a call.
cell phone data of those around him
any association meta data derived over time showing associates or patterns of behavior
captured mic pickups from phones in the area (ALL mics are recording)
captured television audio ratings data in calls revealing date & time
text documents from the voice recognition processing... on calls and available mics
traffic cams pics of the suspect and victim
location data collected from the various RFID tags on the various vehicles
Internet records
purchasing records
etc...
You can have only one of the two, not the other, and certainly not both. Consider the constitution in another light, however. It is a trade of certain freedoms for a certain measure of security. But it is set forth in a contract, allowing for no more surrenders of freedom than is pre-agreed. The Left has already given up on that contract, however. Obama himself has said the constitution is a flawed document containing only negative liberties. In liberal code, that means it doesn’t provide enough security. More security means more concessions of freedom. How many times do you hear liberals say that the consitution is old and outdated? Too many times.
The thing is, some anonymous person/s could start publishing stuff on the internet claiming they had access to the NSA database.
The only way to disprove it would be to allow access to the real database. (even so the NSA data could be altered..thus no way to ever be certain)
Phone call audio would be the most explosive data to publish. This audio can be gathered in many ways. The NSA would be fingered as the guilty party who originally gathered it since their reputation is totally shot.
Mega scandal.
Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall . . . have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor . . .
A+
Excellent idea!
Fruits of the most idiotic scandal ever.
How about focusing on our “representatives” that are legislating and funding the controversial activity? Nah, not sexy enough.
Having experienced an unpleasant divorce before, I would say this would be a nightmare if NSA starts sharing info with divorce attorneys.
Revolt will come out of this.
>>Revolt will come out of this.
The Fire is in the Mind of Termites, not on the roofs of houses.
Who knows - might help stop the tyranny - start a petition that anything they have that's not classified be posted on the internet for anyone to see and also to let folks know what has been collected on them. Might be one of the few ways to stop the madness - illustrate that they don't need all that data.
What a perversion of our legal system - on a scale almost unimaginable!
An immoral nation can’t expect anything better.
It’s not the Constitution that is the supreme law of the land. Rather, it’s the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.
Sure it will. As soon as American Idol is over. Then you have the World Series to contend with, and after that football season is in full swing.
We don't have time for a revolt.
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