The lawsuits against the telecom companies need to be withdrawn IMMEDIATELY.

[The Purple Shamrock]

The absolute worst thing about this so-called "compromise", in my opinion, is the retroactive amnesty provision. As usual, Glenn Greenwald sums it up better than I could ever hope to do:

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The provision granting amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, Title VIII, has the exact Orwellian title it should have: "Protection of Persons Assisting the Government." Section 802(a) provides:

civil action may not lie or be maintained in a Federal or State court against any person for providing assistance to an element of the intelligence community, and shall be properly dismissed, if the Attorney General certifies to the district court of the United States in which such action is pending that . . . (4) the assistance alleged to have been provided . . . was --

(A) in connection with intelligence activity involving communications that was (i) authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007 and (ii) designed to prevent or detect a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation of a terrorist attack, against the United States" and

(B) the subject of a written request or directive . . . indicating that the activity was (i) authorized by the President; and (ii) determined to be lawful.

So all the Attorney General has to do is recite those magic words -- the President requested this eavesdropping and did it in order to save us from the Terrorists -- and the minute he utters those words, the courts are required to dismiss the lawsuits against the telecoms, no matter how illegal their behavior was.

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When these lawsuits are dismissed, it will be "with prejudice", meaning that they can not be refiled. Now, as awful as this FISA Amendments Act is, it does expire in 2012. If the existing lawsuits are withdrawn before this bill becomes law, there will be nothing to dismiss. The lawsuits may then be legally refiled after this expiration date.

This is not particularly satisfying to me, having to wait another presidential term before discovery can begin. But it is certainly better than outright dismissal. And it certainly appears that, political Kabuki aside, that this Act will become law without the amnesty provisions stripped, whatever the most ardent Obama supporters wish to believe.

I just can not accept that this administration will never be held to account for its lawlessness. There were no real consequences for Watergate. No one went to prison, as they should have. Same for Iran-Contra. This behavior will continue unless real consequences are meted out for breaking the law. That means prison time. We cannot let these important lawsuits get dismissed forever.

[formercia]

1. Statute of Limitations

There is none for TREASON.

[The Purple Shamrock]

2. We will still need evidence to prove treason.

The discovery phase of these lawsuits will probably turn up some really amazing (horrifying?) stuff.

[unblock]

3. the provision means nothing unless the supreme court upholds it

so once again, the conclusion is, we must get obama in an start reshaping the court.

[wryter2000]

6. Good point!

Unfortunately, none of the four Bushbots will be retiring. However, we can't give McCain a single seat. As it is now, you never know how the Court is going to go, even with the most obvious things.

[ileus]

4. woo hoo...another chance to win the lawsuit lottery

it's unfair for GW&Co to take this away from us. We could all get rich off their profits, I've been sending those goona between 40-80 bucks a month for 18 years. I want some of that back...

[wryter2000]

5. What's the statute of limitations?

If it's expired before 2012, the suits can't be refiled.

[Tatiana]

7. Not all of them. There is a (long-shot) chance that the bill will be declared unconstitutional.

One of the plantiffs could appeal all the way to the Supreme Court (if the lower courts decide in favor of the government). Justice Kennedy could decide to uphold the Constitution.