Rights group requests wiretapping probe

Reuters posted a nice bit of news today regarding the NSA’s wiretapping and call-logging:

The American Civil Liberties Union launched a 20-state campaign on Wednesday to stop warrantless eavesdropping by the National Security Agency and prevent telecoms firms from providing it with phone records.

Good. I, for one, am not comfortable with what the NSA does. Aside from the fact that it’s illegal—do you see anything permitting domestic surveillance in the Constitution?—it smacks of Soviet-government practices.

Under a secret program set up under President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, the NSA was authorized to monitor the international phone calls and emails of U.S. citizens without first obtaining warrants, while pursuing al Qaeda suspects.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that the government really was trying to catch al Qaeda suspects. That automatically makes warrantless wiretapping and call-logging a good idea in the minds of your average American. He believes the government is protecting him from terrorists. What he doesn’t realize, however, is that the Fourth Amendment prevents such acts:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

But who reads that damned piece of paper anymore anyway?

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