Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Will the last US libertarian please turn out the lights?

From the White House Fact (sic) Sheet explaining the new electronic surveillance law (the "Protect America Act") --

The Act Provides For The FISA Court To Direct Third Parties To Assist The Intelligence Community In Its Collection Efforts. The Act permits the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to direct third parties to provide the information, facilities, and assistance necessary to conduct surveillance of foreign intelligence targets located overseas.

Apart from anything else, the above bullet point is atrociously written, as it refers to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court, which is judicial, in the 1st sentence, but then refers to the director of national intelligence and the Attorney General in the second, which is entirely executive branch. Unless that's become the judicial branch in the new law.

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