The FBI has proven that it can legally dodge even the sparse amount of judicial checks and balances on its ability to search the records of Americans. After being denied twice in FISA Court for an order to collect records from an individual, a secret report reveals that the Bureau subsequently wrote its own order and went through with the surveillance, regardless of the court rejection. This unilateral empowerment of the executive branch bears resemblance to offenses committed in colonial America, where British officers were permitted to write their own “writs of assistance” to search colonists for smuggled goods — one of the causes of the American Revolution and a direct inspiration for the 4th Amendment.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:43:58 +0000
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