June 11, 2004

• I have to wonder what the frequency of these letters is, though it doesn't seem possible to find out. And, if they are frequent and badly directed, what would happen if everyone who was the subject of one posted everything they knew about the things on the internet in violation of the gag order. I know they'd go to jail, but so did a lot of folks who protested the Viet Nam war, 'cause they thought it was worth it. Would it be an effective protest to take on the seemingly unconstitutional powers of these letters? A MoFi get together at some federal pen? Do they allow cameras there? Should we be careful about shoutouts?
• The trick, obviously, is to throw the biggest fit possible upon receipt of one of these crazy letters. Local and national media attention would ensure your place as a political prisoner. You'd get bumper stickers and benefit concerts and everything, just like Mumia. I'm being flip, of course, but really it's what one ought to do if he's got any cojones at all.
• It seems to me that we Americans are stepping back into the days before the Bill of Rights were written. This is just John Adam's Sedition Acts all over again. America barely got through those laws, and only did so through popular discontent. I just hope that this is another sign that the Bush administration is circling the drain, or that America will see another dose of that popular discontent that freezes this kind of nastiness. If the Bushies get re-elected, then we in America will get what we deserve. We will get what we deserve because we don't know our own history. My apologies to the rest of the world.
• Could someone who has taken con law tell me how or why the PATRIOT Act doesn't totally violate the Fourth Amendment?
• Well, I can't (IANAL), but we'd need a Supreme Court declaration that it is unconstitutional if Bush gets his wish and gets this horrible piece of legislation extended. Part of me hopes that that's exactly how it goes, that it's overturned by an act of the Court rather than Congress, in the hopes that it might provide more of a deterrent to future attempts to pass crap like this.
• yes. absolutely brilliant. last thing anyone could possibly want is the un-elected branch to do it, so as to save face (and re-election chances) of the elected branch.
• RE:National Security Letter Larry D. Thompson, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institutition, and former Deputy Atourney General of the United States speaking to Rep. Timothy J. Roemer (D-IN) during one of the 9-11 Commision hearings. But I think it's important to point this out is that under the guidelines that we develop for FBI agents in this area, it's very important to note that these kinds of investigations and these kinds of inquiries that you're talking about with respect to the national security letters cannot be undertaken except for a legitimate counterterrorism investigation for the purpose of detecting terrorist activity. Now, can an FBI agent or can an office short-circuit that? Human nature says that sometimes rules are going to be broken. But if they are broken, there are severe professional consequences for that kind of thing. So we have guidelines and we have to rely on the professionalism of the overwhelming majority of our law enforcement officials, and they do not undertake these kinds of inquiries lightly and they do not undertake them to get information about activity that's otherwise protected by the Constitution or by other laws. for what its worth...
• The Son of Patriot Act Also Rises "The bill would strengthen laws that let the FBI demand that businesses hand over confidential records about patrons by assigning stiff penalties (up to five years in prison) to anyone who discloses that the FBI made the demand."
• U.S. Uses Secret Evidence In Secrecy Fight With ACLU
• That smell? Mmmm. Yum! Corruption in the body politic, Come vultures, come!
• Justice Department Censors Supreme Court Quote
• Jeralyn Merritt: The FBI Is Spying on You and Me
• Holy crap!
• The National Security Letter Provision of the USA Patriot Act: Why It Ought to Be Amended during the Reauthorization Debates
• Court of Appeals upholds unconstitutionality of Patriot Act's National Security Letter provision
• Gagged librarians break silence on Patriot Act
• Apparently the CIA and the Pentagon use National Security Letters too: The Military Quietly Gathers Domestic Financial Records
• The FBI's lawbreaking is tied directly to President Bush
• My National Security Letter Gag Order
• FBI May Have Broken the Law 1,000 Times in Surveilling Americans
• EFF Receives First Set of FOIA Documents on the FBI's Misuse of National Security Letter Authority
• The domestic snooping story doesn't end with the White House's bullying of an ailing John Ashcroft. Congress is still waiting for the FBI chief to answer serious questions about the administration's suspected abuse of national security letters.
• Powering Down the Patriot Act: In the wake of another damaging report detailing the bureau's abuse of its data-gathering power, Congress is seeking to limit the use of national security letters.
• FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses
• New bill would tighten rules for National Security Letters
• Justice Department Sues Telecom for Challenging National Security Letter
• We Don’t Need No Stinking Warrant: The Disturbing, Unchecked Rise of the Administrative Subpoena
• Google Says the FBI Is Secretly Spying on Some of Its Customers
• Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional, Bans Them