AlterNet: Memo Shows Bush Administration Says to Hell with Fourth Amendment Rights

[marmar]

Memo Shows Bush Administration Says to Hell with Fourth Amendment Rights

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet. Posted April 10, 2008.

News that the Bush administration threw out the 4th Amendment after 9/11 is a sobering reminder of the lawlessness of its spying program.




News last week of former White House lawyer John Yoo's recently disclosed 2003 memo positing, among other things, that the president's authority as commander in chief allows him to override federal laws prohibiting "assault, maiming, and other crimes" against suspects in the "war on terror," was followed by a second revelation: an alarming footnote on page 8 referring to another secret memo, written shortly after 9/11, and, in the name of national security, dispensing with the Fourth Amendment.

In the age of the "war on terror," according to the footnote, the Department of Justice "recently concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations." (Emphasis in the original.)

The Fourth Amendment, of course, lays out "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Critics of the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program -- which was started in the same weeks the memo was written -- have staked their claims in part on its violation of this right. Proof that the program originated at the same time that the White House officially jettisoned the Fourth Amendment in the name of national security is a damning -- if not surprising -- revelation.

There's been a good deal of debate already over whether or not this 2001 memo actually laid the groundwork for the Bush administration's so-called "Terrorist Surveillance Program," which was exposed in December 2005. The White House has claimed that it had nothing to do with it, with press spokesman Tony Fratto telling reporters that the program "relied on a separate set of legal memoranda." But as the legal underpinnings of the Bush administration's vast power grab are unraveled, the memos offer a window into the radical mindset and ruthless political culture operating in the White House." As tedious and stultifying as the ongoing legislative debate over FISA has been, the Yoo memo is a sobering reminder of the lawlessness at the root of the government's spying program -- and why we should still be paying attention.

Speaking of paying attention: In case there was any doubt, no, Congress and the White House have not yet agreed upon an updated version of the FISA bill. After an endless series of discussions, false starts, shameless, 24-inspired GOP propaganda ads, and one ridiculous countdown clock -- on March 14, to Bush's dismay, the House passed a version of the FISA bill that omitted immunity for telecoms. This was the day after Bush had appeared on the White House lawn and tried to shame House members into passing the Senate version of the FISA bill, which allows retroactive immunity for telecoms. "Companies that may have helped us save lives should be thanked for their patriotic service," Bush said, "not subjected to billion-dollar lawsuits that will make them less willing to help in the future." .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/rights/81905/

[bdamomma]

1. I hope Yoo gets what's coming to him.

[marmar]

3. Agreed....Psychotic torture-endorser that he is.

:mad:

[Echo In Light]

2. "In the age of the "war on terror," according to the footnote.."

Quite disparagingly, that, to be sure.