Two howlers on domestic surveillance
Two stories came out today on the deepening problem of unwarranted and unconstrained domestic surveillance in the ongoing War On Your Liberty; each of the two stories contains assurances by government officials that don't even pass the snicker test.
The first story takes place at the state level, where we find this:
Intelligence centers run by states across the country have access to personal information about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs and credit reports, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post.
One center also has access to top-secret data systems at the CIA, the document shows, though it's not clear what information those systems contain.
The problem is not that government agencies have access to such information; it's entirely reasonable to expect law enforcement officials to have access to any available information that could assist in the pursuit of criminals. Instead, the problem is one of adequate accountability and oversight:
"Fusion centers have grown, really, off the radar screen of public accountability," said Jim Dempsey, vice president for public policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonpartisan watchdog group in the District. "Congress and the state legislatures need to get a handle over what is going on at all these fusion centers."
Without adequate oversight by the judicial and legislative branches, such wide-scale data mining quickly, easily and inevitably morphs from investigative prowess into blanket, warrantless surveillance. That's when liberty dies.
Here's the howler from that story:
Police officials said fusion center analysts are trained to use the information responsibly, legally and only on authorized criminal and counterterrorism cases.
If you believe that, I have a timeshare in Guantanamo Bay I can sell you dirt cheap.
And this:
"There is never ever enough information when it comes to terrorism" said Maj. Steven G. O'Donnell, deputy superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police. "That's what post-9/11 is about."
Consider that last sentence carefully.
We're supposed to accept the idea that the 9/11 attacks somehow changed the nature of crime and punishment, and that the underpinnings of our country are no longer operative. Hogwash. The notion that "9/11 changed everything" is merely an excuse by the power-hungry to push aside those pesky civil liberties in favor of authoritarian snooping, and it looks like the message is working well enough to keep inquisitive legislators and judges from asking too many questions.
The second story reveals that the Department of Defense is using the FBI to make an end run around the Posse Comitatus Act (which expressly forbids the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement). "National Security Letters" raise their ugly heads once again:
The military is using the FBI to skirt legal restrictions on domestic surveillance to obtain private records of Americans' Internet service providers, financial institutions and telephone companies, the ACLU said Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union based its conclusion on a review of more than 1,000 documents turned over by the Defense Department after it sued the agency last year for documents related to national security letters, or NSLs, investigative tools used to compel businesses to turn over customer information without a judge's order or grand jury subpoena.
"Newly unredacted documents released today reveal that the Department of Defense is using the FBI to circumvent legal limits on its own NSL power," said the ACLU, whose lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.
ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman said the documents the civil rights group studied "make us incredibly concerned." She said it would be understandable if the military relied on help from the FBI on joint investigations, but not when the FBI was not involved in a probe.
And here's the howler from that story:
A department spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder, said in an e-mail that the department had made "focused, limited and judicious" use of the letters.
Not only is the Pentagon snooping around in domestic matters which it has no right to police, DoD is doing so without so much as a search warrant.
I'm telling you, that timeshare in Guantanamo Bay has a fabulous view of the ocean.