U.S. GOVERNMENT’S “SECRET INTERPRETATION” OF PATRIOT ACT: “EVERYTHING” IS RELEVANT–SO SPY ON EVERYONE
The second perverse policy is the so called “Global War on Terrorism.” As many critics have pointed out, terrorism is not an enemy. It is a tactic. Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely make the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world. A prudent American president would end the present policy of “sustained hysteria” over potential terrorist attacks, order the removal of most of the new safety barriers in Washington and elsewhere, treat terrorism as a serious but not a strategic problem, encourage Americans to regain their confidence, and refuse to let al Qaeda keep us in a state of fright.
Lt.Gen William Odom Former Director NSA
Government’s “Secret Interpretation” of Patriot Act: “EVERYTHING” Is Relevant … So Spy on EVERYONE
Post Categories: Top Stories
4TH MEDIA
The Washington’s blog | Thursday, July 11, 2013, 13:24 Beijing
Government’s Interpretation of Spying Turns 200 Years of American Law On Its Head
Senators Wyden and Udall – both on the Senate Intelligence Committee, with full access to information on the spying program – have said that for at least 2 years that the government was using a “secret interpretation” of the Patriot Act which would shock Americans, because it provides a breathtakingly wide program of spying. And see this.
Wyden and Udall said that they couldn’t reveal to the public – or even other members of Congress who lack top security clearance – what the secret interpretation is … and that most Congress members weretotally ignorant about it.
The author of the Patriot Act and chairman on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations – Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner – says that the government has gone far beyond what the Patriot Act intended, and that the Act “was originally drafted to preventdata mining” on the scale that’s occurred.
A top NSA whistleblower told us that the secret interpretation is that the government spies on everyone.
The Wall Street Journal has just disclosed the specifics of the “secret interpretation”:
In classified orders starting in the mid-2000s, the court accepted that “relevant” could be broadened to permit an entire database of records on millions of people, in contrast to a more conservative interpretation widely applied in criminal cases, in which only some of those records would likely be allowed, according to people familiar with the ruling.
“Relevant” has long been a broad standard, but the way the court is interpreting it, to mean, in effect, “everything,” is new, says Mark Eckenwiler, a senior counsel at Perkins Coie LLP who, until December, was the Justice Department’s primary authority on federal criminal surveillance law.
***
Two senators on the Intelligence Committee, Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Mark Udall (D., Colo.), have argued repeatedly that there was a “secret interpretation” of the Patriot Act.The senators’ offices tell the Journal that this new interpretation of the word “relevant” is what they meant.
Interpreting “relevant” as meaning “everything” throws more than 200 years of American law on its head … plus a couple hundred additional years of British common law on which early American law was based. The most basic principle of evidence law is that only information actually relevant to the case can be admitted.
Moreover, top national security experts say that pretending that “everything” is “relevant” means that intelligence agencies will be swamped with useless information …which will make them less able to prevent terrorist attacks.
And the courts are providing no checks and balances on the spying program.
The Washington’s blog
Tags: court law Patriot Act terrorist
Related articles:
• Slobodan Milosevic and the International Criminal Court of Justice
• On February 23, International Protests of Bradley Manning’s 1,000th Day in Jail without Trial
• “Zombie Homes” Stalk Former Owners in Latest US Foreclosure Horror: Society Continues Crumble
• 2013 NDAA Expands Power of Military to Detain Citizens
* NSA Blackmailing Obama? an Interview with NSA Whistle-blower Russ Tice