Can US Group Challenge Overseas Surveillance Act? Supreme Court To Decide. -- Christian Science Monitor
The US Supreme Court agreed to examine whether a group of US-based lawyers, activists, and journalists can challenge a Bush-era law authorizing broad surveillance overseas.
The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine whether a group of lawyers, human rights activists, and journalists have legal standing to pursue a constitutional challenge to a federal law authorizing broad electronic surveillance overseas.
Members of the group are based in the US and thus cannot be directly targeted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But the plaintiffs say their work requires them to stay in telephone and e-mail contact with individuals in other countries who are likely to be targeted for surveillance by US intelligence agencies, including suspected terrorists.
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My Comment: This is what I call 'lawyers running amok'. To force intelligence agencies to screen and then apply for specific communications to be targeted for surveillance will .... in my opinion .... create a bureaucratic empire that would make such surveillance impossible to conduct in a timely manner. On top of that .... foreign groups can easily change their means of communication to use other sources and outlets .... hence repeating the same screening process and time consuming exercise (again) for the intelligence community.
Taken to the extreme .... if the Surveillance Act is ruled unconstitutional .... I can then make the argument that foreign terrorists and terror organizations can be allowed to put U.S. lawyers on retainer for legal advice .... hence mitigating any surveillance on them because their communications will then be "protected". Talk about opening Pandora's Box of legal consequences.
Bottom line .... I predict that the Supreme Court will throw out this case .... what I am curious about is who among the justices will object.
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