Government reports violations of limits on spying aimed at U.S. citizens

[avaistheone1]

Source: Washington Post

The federal government has repeatedly violated legal limits governing the surveillance of U.S. citizens, according to previously secret internal documents obtained through a court battle by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In releasing 900 pages of documents, U.S. government agencies refused to say how many Americans' telephone, e-mail or other communications have been intercepted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - or FISA - Amendments Act of 2008, or to discuss any specific abuses, the ACLU said. Most of the documents were heavily redacted.

However, semiannual internal oversight reports by the offices of the attorney general and director of national intelligence identify ongoing breaches of legal requirements that limit when Americans are targeted and minimize the amount of data collected.

The documents note that although oversight teams did not find evidence of "intentional or willful attempts to violate or circumvent the law . . . certain types of compliance incidents continue to occur," as a March 2009 report stated.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120206052.html

---

Any coincidence this is being released now given all the recent Wikileaks revelations?

[Goldstein1984]

1. People who seek power for power's sake abusing that power??

Tell me it ain't so.

[Solly Mack]

2. I never intend to break the rules or violate the law

when I break the rules or violate the law. Somehow, I just slip or fall in or forget or....just clumsy, I guess.

[Autumn]

3. Well now, that's a big

fucking surprise. Bastards.

[Fearless]

4. We gave them the PATRIOT ACT and enabled them to do this.

Those who want power are very keen on taking advantage of situations to get it.

[No Elephants]

5. Didn't Obama say he was going to fix this?

[ThomCat]

8. He claimed it was going to be a priority.

Something about "restoring the rule of law" being kind of important, but you can't really tell what's a priority, or what's important anymore, ever since he took office. :(

[shanti]

26. same as it ever was

so much for hope and change :eyes:

[fatbuckel]

6. Vote educated.

[ThomCat]

7. Why is it that somehow it is never "willfull" or "intentional"

and somehow that is always meant as an excuse, and therefore it's okay that the violations of our civil rights happened. "They didn't mean it, so it's okay."

They can always claim they didn't mean it, therefore it will always be okay. Under those rules any violation will keep happening, keep escalating, and somehow always be accidental even while it somehow manages to keep getting more blatant and obvious.

This is why we should stop trying to read people's minds with guesses like "did they mean it?" and "was it deliberate?"

We should be asking "did they violate someone's civil rights?" That's what matters. Only after we know that someone is guilty should we be concerned with the question of whether or not the offense was intentional or deliberate. If the offense was accidental, and they can prove it, then they deserve a lighter sentence.

But that should only come up if they are admitting guilt, or if they have been found guilty. Otherwise, this bullshit about offenses not being willful or intentional don't mean anything. We end up in this bureaucratic nightmare we are currently in, where just claiming that an offense wasn't deliberate means it was acceptable, and therefore there is no need to punish anyone.

:wtf:

Civil rights were violated on a mass scale. People certainly should be getting punished for this. All these bureaucratic excuses all need to be swept aside.

[pattmarty]

9. Does anybody really have a LEGITIMATE argument that this is not..........

.....fascism? Jesusfuckingchrist, watch old John Wayne movies with him as the hero killing, beating, EATING all the fascist "bad guys". Even the old school "nuts" were against the government spying on "most" of its citizens. Now, for christ sake the fucking Dems are on board with this evil shit.

[OnyxCollie]

10. K&R. nt

[kpete]

11. ACLU: 'US govt. spied on American citizens'

Source: PressTV

'US govt. spied on American citizens'
Fri Dec 3, 2010 7:39PM
The US federal government has repeatedly violated legal limits pertaining to the surveillance of US citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says.


ACLU obtained a series of documents previously regarded as secret internal documents through a court battle, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

According to ACLU obtained documents, the US government agencies have refused to say how many communications -- including e-mail and phone conversations -- were intercepted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The documents note that although oversight teams did not find evidence of "intentional or willful attempts to violate or circumvent the law . . . certain types of compliance incidents continue to occur," as a March 2009 report stated.

The US congress passed FISA over three decades ago to prevent its citizens' communications from illegal tapping. But the law was amended in 2008 to expand Washington's surveillance powers.

.................


Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/153765.html

[ixion]

12. "If it's illegal, we do it immediately. It it's unconstitutional, it takes a while longer"

-- Henry Kissinger.

[Moonbat2]

20. you win

best response here...congratulations,carry on:+

[bullimiami]

13. If a law is broken and noone ever prosecutes, does it make a sound?

[kenny blankenship]

14. I don't see how "US Govt illegally spies on its own people" could possibly be 'breaking news'

I mean, really, who doesn't know this?

[valerief]

16. Fox Propaganda viewers. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Oh no, they believe it now...

but only because we have a democratic president.

[shanti]

15. and this is a surprise?

:eyes:

[harun]

22. Not to us.

[shanti]

24. i heard that

:hi:

[beforeyoureyes]

17. Kick

[ikri]

18. They should

Give the files to wikileaks, how else will anyone pay any attention?

[sarcasmo]

21. From the no shitter department.

[L. Coyote]

23. Can we just have an annual "ACLU reports US govt. spied on Americans Day" already???

[tavalon]

25. We really need a "Duh" forum

[Odin2005]

27. No shit!