Amazon.com Widgets
Membership: Join Now : Login

» Thursday, August 17, 2006

A simple question

I know everyone seems excited by this:

Federal Judge Orders Halt to NSA Wiretapping

A federal judge in Detroit ordered a halt to the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program, ruling for the first time that the controversial effort ordered by President Bush was unconstitutional.

...but in reality, does anyone have any illusions that something as simple as a court order will actually stop a program like this?

The administration has argued all along that it has singular constitutional authority to do these kinds of things, a power that it perceives as equal to those of the legislative and judicial branches. The administration has argued all along that the legislative branch (Congress) can't overturn the executive branch's decision in this matter, via FISA or anything else, though Congress may be welcome to endorse it.

If they think the legislative branch can't prohibit this behavior, what makes anyone think they believe the judicial branch can? On what grounds do we believe that the administration feels obliged to obey this injunction? Do you think they'll stop the program while the injunction stands?

I don't.

# - Posted to Dubya Dubya II, MCLU on 8/17/06; 1:05:21 PM - Discuss -


[ Print This Page ]