Dear Gov. Dean -- No One Is Above The Law In America

[understandinglife]

18 December 2005 (# 13)

No One Is Above The Law In The United States Of America.

As you likely know, Gov. Dean, the Foreign Surveillance Security Act (FISA) of 1978 already provides, under 36 USC 1805, the mechanisms for the Attorney General to approve surveillance for up to 72 hours without warrant. As long as the FISA Supervisory Court approves the surveillance within the 72 hour time limit, the surveillance is deemed legal and can persist.

In fact, all 1228 requests to the FISA supervisory court, in 2002 (i.e., during the year after "9/11"), were approved:

Office of the Attorney General
Washington, DC 20530
April 29, 2003
Mr. L. Ralph Mecham
Director, Administrative Office
of the United States Courts
Washington, D.C. 20544

Dear Mr. Mecham:

This report is submitted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, Title 50, United States Code, Section 1807, as amended.

During calendar year 2002, 1228 applications were made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for electronic surveillance and physical search. The Court initially approved 1226 applications in 2002. Two applications were "approved as modified," and the United States appealed these applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, as applications having been denied in part. On November 18, 2002, the Court of Review issued a judgment that "ordered and adjudged that the motions for review be granted, the challenged portions of the orders on review be reversed, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's Rule 11 be vacated, and the cases be remanded with instructions to grant the United States' applications as submitted..." Accordingly, all 1228 applications presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2002 were approved.


Sincerely,
John Ashcroft

Link: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/2002rept.html

It is pure bunk, or "spin" as some call it, to use "emergency" or "terrorist" as an excuse.

The fact is the President wanted to spy on people, and he intentionally wanted to subvert any form of oversight for that activity. And, yesterday, he admitted to doing just that and said he'd continue being a felon, in plain sight. Perhaps the first honest statements Bush has made since ... ???

The infamous John Yoo memorandum of September 25, 2001 (http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/warpowers925.htm) is nothing more than a piece of paper claiming that the President stands above the law. The "Yoo Doctrine," if it is permitted to stand, transforms America into a totalitarian state. The most succinct summary of that fact I've found is the following:

Where Yoo surely parts company with any sane constitutional thinking since the Roman Republic is the extension that the monarch/president gets to decide what counts as a war. For George III, George Washington, Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and FDR, war is an organized conflict between societies or social groups. Police actions against pirates, slavers, and terrorists are not war. By treating the rhetorical "war on terror", infinitely redefinable, as a real war with war's legal consequences, the Bush administration has entered the 1984 terrain of totalitarianism.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/comments/2005/12/16/142620/20/31#31

We now know, because Mr. Bush admitted it on national radio and TV on December 17, 2005, that he authorized spying on American citizens. He willfully violated FISA and he willfully violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Not only must Mr. Bush be impeached, he must be prosecuted. In civil court, under provisions of FISA, those American citizens upon whom he spied have every right to sue him.

Those who conducted the surveillance are also liable for their actions under FISA and must be prosecuted. Again, the victims have every right to bring civil suit against those who conducted surveillance on them.

No One Is Above The Law In America.

It is essential that lawyers from all over the Nation join together to bring legal support, pro bono, to those citizens whose rights have been violated by Bush and the minions who acted on his illegal orders. The DNC could demonstrate progressive leadership by spearheading that effort.

Also, the DNC should take an even more aggressive public education approach to this travesty than it did in the Jean Schmidt smearing of Congressman Murtha. The message is simple:

No One Is Above The Law In America.

Thank you for your continued leadership,

p.s. In my letter tomorrow, I'll cover John Bolton and the White House's refusal to account to Congress about his extensive access to surveillance data.

Peace.