The Courts have a chance to fix a wrong perpetrated on
America by Bush and Congress.
FISA bill is an unconstitutional piece of legislation.
Not so much because of the provisions built in to provide for electronic surveillance of citizens but because it's design is such that it is effectively impossible to challenge it in court. Recently a federal judge characterized it well by declaring that it ".. was not user friendly"
The beginning of the Declaration of Independence says ... "We The People"
This is an understatement. The only reason the existing case is in court is because the government made a mistake and sent a copy of a classified document along with discovery. Then they sent agents to recover that document effectively denying the plaintiff the proof needed to show standing to sue.
The very design of FISA seems to be to make it effectively impossible for anyone to challenge this statute in court because it would require unavailable classified information and documents to use in court. It's very design clouds the actions of Government in secrecy including it's invasions of individual privacy without any due process or oversight. This is not the kind of government we send people to die to protect. This is the kind of government that places itself above the law and above the people.
The beginning of the Declaration of Independence says ... "We The People"
The first amendment of our Bill of Rights and Constitution specifically denies congress the authority to pass any law that would abridge a citizen's right to petition for a redress of grievances. The Courts, as one of the three branches of government, are there to serve as a check on the powers of Congress and the President by reviewing these "petitions" to determine the constitutionality of the law or their applications. Effective checks demand that this door not be closed by any act of Congress.
When two of our three branches fail to protect our Constitution, as Bush and Congress have done, we have only one branch left to protect our Constitution. If we loose the courts we are in great peril for all an administration and Congress needs to do is carefully construct laws that ban the court from reviewing them and they could effectively ignore the Constitution.
FISA would seem to do just that, banning the courts from even determining the constitutionality of that bill by blocking citizens access to petition them.
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