Domestic spying to commence

It seems you can’t go more than one or two days without reading about the increasing powers of the federal government and the President of the United States:

U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites

By ROBERT BLOCK
August 15, 2007; Page A1

The U.S.’s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation’s vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.’s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.

This use of satellites for domestic purpose would have been illegal under the old Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibited using the military for domestic police purposes — but that old Act was abolished by President Bush last year, when he signed a bill that gave him powers to use the military “to provide for the common defense or to respond promptly to insurrection, or other serious emergency.”  Like most things, no one paid any attention to this grab for power.

However, this is still probably illegal under the Constitution.  The 4th Amendment prohibits government searches absent a warrant and probable cause.  But, again, no one pays much attention to the Constitution these days either.

I guess we’ll have to see what powers the President gives himself tomorrow to find out what happens next in this sad political saga.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Executive Power, Government Accountability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.