Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

Original Reuters story:

quote:

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Secret Court Says U.S. Has Broad Wiretap Powers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special, secretive appeals court on Monday said the U.S. government has the right to use expanded powers to wiretap suspected terrorism suspects under a law adopted by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The ruling was seen as a setback for civil libertarians who have said the expanded powers, which allow greater leeway in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from the wiretaps and searches, jeopardize constitutional rights.

In a 56-page ruling overturning a May opinion by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge appeals court panel said the Patriot Act gave the government the right to expanded powers.

Sweeping anti-terror legislation, called the USA Patriot Act and signed into law in October after the hijacked plane attacks, made it easier for investigators and law enforcement agents or prosecutors to share information obtained by surveillance and searches.

In the May ruling, the secret court said the government had gone too far. But the Justice Department (news - web sites) appealed, saying it limited the kind of coordination needed to protect national security.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
Posts: 18877

Own or have special interest in an oil corporation. That'll get you in the Bush cabinet. It's just a short step from there.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35779

I am going to rise to greatness by working hard, being good at what I do, and having a justified reputation for honesty.

I just hope I can get all the way to the presidency before I wake up again.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
Posts: 10828

Does this mean that if you were a suspected terrorist (if the government suspected you) and had your phone tapped, would you still get arrested for something else? Like say you were telling a friend to come on over to help you smoke a big, fat ball of hash, although it has nothing to do with terrorisim, its still illeagal, so the powers that be could nail your ass to the wall for smoking the dreaded hash ball yet your phone was tapped for a different reason entirely.

Did that make any sense?

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: The Bad Side of Mayberry
Posts: 220

Don't bogart that joint....my friend...

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
Posts: 10828

I can't see how bogarting a joint threatens national security.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: The Bad Side of Mayberry
Posts: 220

Okay...so the feds are tapping your line while you and a buddy are negotiating a ball of hash...meanwhile Osama and his cronies are planting a dirty bomb in some city. Do the feds get blamed for spending time on the hash deal getting somewhat sidetracked?

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

quote:

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Originally posted by Pinecrika
Does this mean that if you were a suspected terrorist (if the government suspected you) and had your phone tapped, would you still get arrested for something else?

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
Posts: 10828

You'd think they'd get blamed, but you would be sequesterd in Leavenworth for your paltry ball o' hash, unable to tell the masses of your unjust imprisonment, and the feds would feed us the same old bullshit on how the CIA/FBI is inept and needs more power to tap more phone lines.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: The Bad Side of Mayberry
Posts: 220

True...true

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35779

I don't think, as a rule, it is a good thing for you if the police know that you have a shitload of drugs in your house, whether or not they have a warrant.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: aggressivly happy
Posts: 9132

i like drugs

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Location Location
Posts: 26496

WTF?

quote:

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Originally posted by Cage
"We think the procedures and government showings required under FISA, if they do not meet the minimum Fourth Amendment warrant standards, certainly come close," the judges wrote in their ruling, which was partially declassified and published.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
Posts: 18877

Yep. You no longer have to do things within the limits of the Constitution if you're "sorta close to doint things legally."

Yeah, well, I certainly came close to not raping that little girl, but then she flashed those panties and . . . the rest is history.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: China
Posts: 11795

quote:

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Originally posted by Paint CHiPs
WTF?



*groans*

Man, this country is really starting to suck.

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