Det News editorial: "Operate within law on electronic snooping"

[Bozita]

This is from Detroit's rightwing paper. I'm pleasantly surprised.

The link contains a great photo of the judge.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/OPINION01/608180305/1008

August 18, 2006
Operate within law on electronic snooping
Judge rules that warrantless intercepts violate Constitution

The Detroit News

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Undoubtedly, the executive branch needs to be aware of international communications flowing into this country. The nation is under the constant threat of terrorism and the president and his military and law enforcement officers need to be able to monitor telephone calls and Internet e-mail messages originating ourside our borders.

But the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 allows for a special, secret court to hear applications for warrants authorizing this kind of monitoring -- and even allows for retroactive approvals of emergency eavesdropping if there's a national security crisis.

Diggs Taylor's ruling was not without balance. It did, at the government's request, drop a complaint about it's so-called data mining, or wholesale gathering of electronic information without cause. The judge ruled that pursuing that claim would endanger national security interests.

Given that part of the Diggs Taylor ruling, and the favorable legal framework created of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act, it isn't asking too much of the administration to conduct the necessary eavesdropping with the proper legal authority.

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