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from the exempt-from-the-law-of-the-land dept.
TechDirt reports:
[...]the FISA Court has the reputation as a rubberstamp for a reason--it almost never turns down a request.
However, in the rare instances where it does, apparently, the DOJ doesn't really care, knowing that it can just issue [a National Security Letter] instead and get the same information. At least that appears to be what the DOJ quietly admitted to doing in a now declassified Inspector General's report from 2008(PDF). EFF lawyer Nate Cardozo was going through and spotted this troubling bit:
We considered the Section 215 request for [REDACTED] discussed earlier in this report at pages 33 to 34 to be a noteworthy item. In this case, the FISA Court had twice declined to approve a Section 215 application based on First Amendment Concerns. However, the FBI subsequently issued NSLs for information [REDACTED] even though the statute authorizing the NSLs contained the same First Amendment restriction as Section 215 and the ECs authorizing the NSLs relied on the same facts contained in the Section 215 applicants...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 31 2014, @10:03PM
I must say, I'm shocked that this would happen.
No, actually, I'm not. I'm reminded of bully-boy employers and managers who, when they can't get their way using one method, do whatever it takes to get their way using another.
What I am is appalled.
Right now, I don't live in the United States, but since the Prime Minister of this country is obsessed with turning us into Little America, I imagine I will be before too many years are up. The only things missing will be the right to firearms, and that we use right-hand-drive vehicles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 01 2015, @01:36AM
It has nothing to do with "bully-boy" anybodies. It is human nature to seek alternate paths when the easiest route is blocked We all do it all the time. That's why we have laws to define what the government can do. The answer is to get the laws changed back. But that is a lot harder than calling people names.