http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/community/tag_rss/FISA Today the New York Times reports on the continuing failure of the Michael Mukasey as Attorney General experiment . The short version is that Mukasey has not performed as promised...by a long shot. Back in November we at the Courage Campaign didn't much like the notion of an Attorney General Mukasey, but Senator Dianne Feinstein strongly disagreed. She got a lot of pushback and defended her case in an LA Times OpEd that she might want back at this point given the way reality has actually played out. Let's play point/counterpoint between Feinstein's argument in November and the New York Times today: Feinstein: During a long career in public service and private practice, Michael B. Mukasey has forged an independent path as a lawyer and federal judge. Sen. Arlen Specter: "I don't want to use the word 'disappointed,' but he hasn't provided the balance that I had hoped for" http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqc http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqc/commentary#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:47:45 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqc Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/CLqc/ There's a lot of talk this year about more and better Democrats. Generally the "and better" part means primary campaigns and being selective in the candidates that we support with time, money and cyber ink. The other side of that is holding our representatives accountable in ways outside the ballot box, because sometimes we can't just wait for re-election to get responsive representation; too much happens. It's not always easy to find effective ways to get attention and movement, but passion and creativity can be combined into a potent mix. Last week Senator Dianne Feinstein voted to give away our 4th Amendment privacy protections and grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies who may have been illegally complicit in domestic spying on U.S. citizens. It was hardly the first time that Sen. Feinstein has given us reason for serious concern. Once before, her support of previous iterations of FISA legislation, Judge Leslie Southwick and now-Attorney General Mukasey inspired us to insist she pay attention to Californians. We asked you whether it was time to pursue censure again, and more than 12,000 of you responded with a clear message. Rick Jacobs sent an email this morning running through the results, explaining where we go from here, and asking you to help: http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqt http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqt/commentary#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:15:10 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLqt Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 6 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/CLqt/ "A Heavy Heart." That was the subject of the email I received today from Senator Chris Dodd. After fighting tooth and nail for many months, with a coalition cobbled together on the fly, brought together by a fundamental drive to protect the Constitution, the Senate was finally able to force through a new FISA bill including retroactive immunity for telecom companies. A number of Democrats abandoned the Fourth Amendment to vote for immunity, including Senator Dianne Feinstein. It's been a relatively tough year for the Constitution when Feinstein's been faced with challenging votes, and this sadly was no exception. But it's important to hear Senator Dodd's words today: ...let us stand tall, knowing that by working together we were able to make wiretapping and retroactive immunity part of the national discourse these last number of months. We came together - all of you, Senator Feingold, bloggers like Jane Hamsher and Glenn Greenwald, organizations like the EFF and ACLU, and untold hundreds of thousands of Americans who simply wanted to make sure that this one, last insult did not happen with ease. I'm sorry we weren't successful. And so Rick Jacobs put the challenge to Courage supporters today via email. What are we going to do about it? --------------------------------------- http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLq5 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLq5/commentary#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:11:21 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/CLq5 Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 3 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/CLq5/ The Wall Street Journal blew the lid off of the FISA debate today, uncovering that- despite Congress killing it five years ago- the Pentagon's program to collect electronic information about people lives on. It just moved over to NSA: Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the data-sifting effort didn't disappear. The National Security Agency, once confined to foreign surveillance, has been building essentially the same system. The central role the NSA has come to occupy in domestic intelligence gathering has never been publicly disclosed. But an inquiry reveals that its efforts have evolved to reach more broadly into data about people's communications, travel and finances in the U.S. than the domestic surveillance programs brought to light since the 2001 terrorist attacks. snip According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. The NSA receives this so-called "transactional" data from other agencies or private companies, and its sophisticated software programs analyze the various transactions for suspicious patterns. Then they spit out leads to be explored by counterterrorism programs across the U.S. government, such as the NSA's own Terrorist Surveillance Program, formed to intercept phone calls and emails between the U.S. and overseas without a judge's approval when a link to al Qaeda is suspected. The NSA's enterprise involves a cluster of powerful intelligence-gathering programs, all of which sparked civil-liberties complaints when they came to light. They include a Federal Bureau of Investigation program to track telecommunications data once known as Carnivore, now called the Digital Collection System, and a U.S. arrangement with the world's main international banking clearinghouse to track money movements. The effort also ties into data from an ad-hoc collection of so-called "black programs" whose existence is undisclosed, the current and former officials say. Many of the programs in various agencies began years before the 9/11 attacks but have since been given greater reach. Among them, current and former intelligence officials say, is a longstanding Treasury Department program to collect individual financial data including wire transfers and credit-card transactions. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BWn http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BWn/commentary#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:34:10 PDT http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BWn Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BWn/ In recent weeks the battleground of the FISA debate - including whether telecom immunity will be included, and whether Bush will get broad authority to wiretap without oversight - has shifted from the Senate to the House of Representatives. And while the Senate ultimately caved in to Bush's demands, it is - so far - a much different story in the House, where Democrats are showing the kind of fight that was sorely lacking from their Senate counterparts. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWj http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWj/commentary#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:03:11 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWj Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BWj/ Today the US Senate, in an unprecedented act, granted retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that illegally spied on Americans in cooperation with the Bush Administration. Amendments that would have reiterated support for the 1978 FISA law, including Dianne Feinstein's so-called "exclusivity" amendment that would have confirmed FISA as the exclusive arbiter of wiretap legality, were rejected. Feinstein's "good faith" amendment was rejected, as were Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold's effort to strip telecom immunity from the bill. Significantly, Dianne Feinstein helped to kill the Dodd-Feingold effort to strip telecom immunity from the bill. And while she did ultimately vote against the FISA bill , it came after she voted FOR cloture on the bill. Were she truly interested in stopping the bill she would have joined Senators Feingold, Dodd, and Leahy in voting against cloture. Feinstein's press release would have us believe she did all she could to stop immunity: However, I believe this bill didn't do enough to protect against the assertion of executive power. I have said on many occasions that without the additional language to strengthen and tighten the exclusivity already in FISA, I could not support final passage.... There should never be another warrantless surveillance program. And I continue to believe that there should be a strong statement in law making it crystal clear that FISA must be followed, period. But her votes against the Dodd-Feingold amendment, and her vote for cloture, contradict these claims. The sad truth is that Senator Feinstein failed to take a consistent stand against telecom immunity and against this bill, and the result is a bill that gives the White House everything it had demanded of the Senate. Reaction around the blogosphere was damning. At Calitics David Dayen said "Feinstein pulled a Lieberman here" and "[sold] us out and give the phone companies what they wanted for violating civil liberties." Kagro X at Daily Kos said "The US Senate commits suicide on national television" and wondered why Senators even bothered to show up for work if all they were going to do is legitimate Bush's flouting of the law.  Glenn Greenwald denounced the entire proceeding: I used to think that amnesty supporters held their position because they didn't understand this extremely simple point, but now I think that most of them have their position precisely because they do understand it. A lawless "police state" -- and that's the only term that can be used to describe what this bill creates -- is exactly what our political establishment desires. This defeat stings. Many believed that Feinstein would never have come around and joined us in defense of the Constitution, and that this outcome was assured back in December when Harry Reid brought the immunity-giving Senate Intelligence Committee bill to the floor, and it certainly has played out that way. But it doesn't make it any easier to swallow the stunning abrogation of basic constitutional principles, the direct assault on the rule of law, and the creation of a potential police state - all of which are the outcomes of today's vote. History will not remember this day well. The fight is not yet completely lost. The House must now reconcile the Senate's evisceration of FISA with their own RESTORE Act , a much better bill that does not grant telecom immunity. Glenn Greenwald and Firedoglake are hosting a petition to convince the House to defend the RESTORE Act and reject the Senate's granting of immunity. It may seem like a longshot, but given the stakes, fighting hard on FISA is well worth the effort. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWW http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWW/commentary#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:03:31 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/BWW Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 2 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BWW/ Tomorrow will witness the final votes in the Senate on the remaining amendments to the Senate Intelligence Committee's immunity-giving FISA reform bill. When those votes are done, there will be a cloture vote on the bill as a whole, and 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture. Today Pat Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - which offered a much better bill that Reid chose to not bring to the floor - announced he would join the Dodd's efforts to stop cloture. As reported by mcjoan at Daily Kos : "This is signficant, in that one committee chairman, Leahy for the Judiciary Committee, is stating his clear opposition to the work of another chairman, Jay Rockefeller at Intelligence: Tuesday, February 12 is a critical day in our fight to stand up for American values and preserve our freedoms while protecting our national security. The Senate is voting on amendments to FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law governing the use of wiretaps and other means to conduct surveillance of foreign threats. Unfortunately, the new FISA bill we'll be voting on still has many problems. I will do everything in my power -- including joining my colleague Chris Dodd in a filibuster against this legislation -- to fix it. The procedure for tomorrow is that votes on the outstanding amendments will begin at 10:00. After these votes happen, they'll have the cloture vote. When Leahy and Dodd say they will filibuster, it means that they will vote against the cloture vote on the bill to continue debate. If they are successful in preventing 60 votes for cloture, the debate can continue for as long as 30 hours. If they fail to prevent cloture, Dodd has four hours reserved for him and his colleagues like Leahy to convince enough fellow Dems to vote against final passage." Leahy has a contact tool to help mobilize pressure on the Senators - including Feinstein - to get them to oppose immunity and oppose cloture. Glenn Greenwald explains , though, that mcjoan is wrong to call this a "filibuster" - there won't be any effort to hold up all of the Senate's business, that even if cloture is not invoked there would only be another 30 hours of debate. Further, the unanimous consent agreement that Reid, Dodd, and others made with the Senate GOP two weeks ago provides for 60-vote threshholds for key Democratic amendments, including Feinstein's, that are not actually expected to be achieved. The GOP gets to have the outcome of a filibuster here without having to go through the actual motions. As usual, Greenwald offers some excellent framing, reminding us that these telecoms are *lawbreakers*: Whatever else is true about these telecoms that are about to be granted this extraordinary gift from Congress -- no matter how many times they are lavished with the creepy Orwellian phrase "patriotic corporate citizens" -- it is undeniable that they are deliberate lawbreakers. That's why they need amnesty in the first place. Any amnesty advocate who denies that central fact is arguing from a position of deep dishonesty. Bestowing retroactive telecom amnesty is nothing more than the latest step in creating a two-class legal system in America, where most citizens suffer grave penalties if they break the law, while our most politically powerful and well-connected actors are free to do so with impunity. Greenwald goes on to argue that the Blue Dogs in the House will likely play the same role Reid, Rockefeller and Feinstein have played in the Senate - enabling the Bush Administration's lawbreaking as well as that of those who aided them - but still sees value in trying to lobby the House anyway: There is some small chance that the House will impede -- if not stop -- at least some of the more extreme Cheney/Rockefeller provisions. As The Nation's Ari Melber reports : "A trio of Democratic House Committee Chairmen [Dingell, Markey and Stupak] are stepping up the fight against President Bush's surveillance bill this week, vowing to beat back a controversial proposal to grant retroactive amnesty to companies accused of illegally spying on Americans . . . circulating a letter urging their colleagues to stand firm and keep amnesty out of the final spying bill. Unfortunately, the House "Blue Dogs" are basically the House version of Jay Rockefeller and Harry Reid and can, and likely will, single-handedly ensure that the House joins the Senate in complying in full with Bush's demands. But as long as the prospect remains that it can be stopped in the House -- and "an ACLU spokesperson told The Nation that the action by House leaders is the only 'ray of hope' to scuttle amnesty" -- it is worth trying. We'll have a petition and various action steps posted tomorrow once the Senate votes in favor of warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty." The Courage Campaign has been leading the effort to get Senator Feinstein to stand up for our Constitution and to support Dodd's efforts to block cloture. Visit our FISA page for more information, including our in-depth report explaining why Feinstein's "good faith" amendment is such a bad idea. Call Senator Feinstein and tell her to protect your rights and stop lawbreakers from getting away with it: Call one of following phone numbers (if one is busy, call the next number): 202-224-3841 (Washington, DC) 310-914-7300 (Los Angeles) 415-393-0707 (San Francisco) 619-231-9712 (San Diego) 559-485-7430 (Fresno) If Senator Feinstein is not your Senator, please call the Capitol switchboard toll-free to contact your Senator: 1-800-828-0498   http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Brn http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Brn/commentary#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:42:09 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Brn Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/Brn/ Over at DailyKos, mcjoan has a fresh update on today's FISA developments. Your CSpan will probably be relatively dry as a string of amendments cycle through, most of them unlikely to get very far. Amnesty amendments are expected to be introduced tomorrow for a vote either either end of that day or Wednesday. Given the Super Tuesday-ness of tomorrow, we shouldn't expect to be seeing Senators Obama or Clinton back in DC for this debate. But as mcjoan points out, waiting as long as possible on key votes makes it more likely that endorsers out on the stump- like Kennedy and Kerry- will be back to help out in a battle where every single vote will be crucial. All of this is enough to make even the heartiest political observer's eyes glaze over. But it mostly boils down to the fight being far from over. One of the most effective weapons that the Bush administration and its enablers have had over the years is stretching out the process to the point where people get too confused or bored to keep up the pressure. Courage Campaign had the good fortune of getting full analysis of the inherent flaws in Senator Dianne Feinstein's "good faith" premise from Robert Cruickshank and it's all as true now as it was then. We know that we got Feinstein's attention with all of our calls, faxes, and emails because her Communications Director reached out to us almost immediately. We can make a difference on this. Jump below the fold or follow the link to see the Bradley Whitford video on FISA, and keep calling: Call one of following phone numbers (if one is busy, call the next number): 202-224-3841 (Washington, DC) 310-914-7300 (Los Angeles) 415-393-0707 (San Francisco) 619-231-9712 (San Diego) 559-485-7430 (Fresno) If Senator Feinstein is not your Senator, please call the Capitol switchboard toll-free to contact your Senator: 1-800-828-0498 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brb http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brb/commentary#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:59:33 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brb Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/Brb/ Thankfully for some, distressingly for others (like me), I've been able to follow along today on the FISA votes and, rather lacking a climax, nothing managed to achieve cloture. McConnell's version went down pretty badly, and Reid's extension failed 48-45. Senators Boxer and Feinstein voted no on the McConnell amendment (good vote) and yes on the Reid extension (also good vote). So now we're back to where we were last week with nothing having been decided. It will be interesting to see what the President has to say about this in the State of the Union, since presumably it will set the tone for the next several days and any potential filibuster led by Senator Dodd. And if anyone's curious, Sens. Clinton and Obama each voted the right way on both as well. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brr http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brr/commentary#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:30:59 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Brr Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/Brr/ All sorts of interesting developments on the FISA debate over the weekend as we swing into the next phase of the showdown. First, the New York Times blasted leading Senate Democrats in an editorial for even considering an extension of Bush's protections. It also went ahead to say what so many of us know already: the notion that amnesty for telecom companies is anything but an attempt to cover up what this administration has been up to is...well...crazy. The President contends that amnesty is necessary to get cooperation in the future, but it just doesn't pass the smell test. If the law is followed, it's not a problem. And if there's any question about legality, the time to sort it all out isn't well after the fact. That's the whole point of having a FISA court in the first place. Call Senator Feinstein and ask her to stand with Senator Dodd against immunity http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcF http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcF/commentary#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:26:05 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcF Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BcF/ Yesterday was a big day on the FISA debate, but only the beginning. We got Senator Feinstein's attention, both jamming all of her voicemail boxes and getting a comprehensive response from her Communications Director. Most encouraging has been the cooperation throughout the netroots and grassroots organizations that want to protect our 4th amendment rights. Courage Campaign was joined by CREDO, DailyKos, Glenn Greenwald, FireDogLake, D-Day at Digby, and countless others to push back on unnecessarily bad legislation. We even got a big boost from John Edwards . But while we've clearly gained momentum, the issue will extend into next week. Tim Tagaris has a great rundown of what's likely to be coming down next week. A number of votes are likely on Monday, which also happens to be the day of the State of the Union. That means that EVERYbody is gonna be in town and we could really see some fireworks as presidential contenders like Clinton, Obama, and McCain come home and either conspicuously mix it up or conspicuously don't. As one commenter at OpenLeft noted yesterday, most people on the street have no idea what FISA is. Well, with all the attention on the big presidential candidates, that could change. There are indications that we may ultimately not get either the Judicial or Intelligence versions of the bill through, in which case we're likely to see a 30 day extension courtesy of Harry Reid on Monday. Regardless, we're going to be seeing cloture votes and battles over 50 and 60 vote thresholds all day Monday leading up to Bush almost certainly bringing it up during the State of the Union. Senator Feinstein will remain a key vote on any FISA legislation. I encourage everyone to read Robert's excellent analysis of everything that's wrong with her particular amendments and keep up the heat and act now to tell Senator Feinstein tto support the Dodd filibuster and protect tha Constitution . http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcK http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcK/commentary#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:03:19 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcK Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BcK/ FISA is grabbing national attention today as the debate rages on the floor of the Senate, and on the heels of Senator Feinstein's response to Robert's post, Senator John Edwards is calling for citizen pressure on Senators Boxer and Feinstein. The heat is on and Edwards isn't mincing words on this one- "It's wrong for your government to spy on you." No kidding. Senator Feinstein's parsing position that would give away the keys to the store and validate immunity for Bush on this issue is a classic example of Democrats conceding the issue without a fight. When Bismarck declared politics to be the art of the possible, it's hard to imagine he meant the art of what is immediately possible. Time and again, this administration has demonstrated that it is not only foolish but reckless to operate in "good faith" when the Constitution is involved, and moving constitutional judicial proceedings behind closed doors doesn't inspire much good faith in me. Anyways, the leadership from John Edwards on this issue is much appreciated and a big boost to proponents of basic freedom. It appears that Senator Clinton will not support the Dodd filibuster by returning to Washington and Obama has, so far as I know, not moved to add support either. That's disappointing but not entirely unexpected as the battle continues over every single Senator. Keep up the pressuring phone calls to make sure that Senator Feinstein knows we're serious about this one. Check out the Edwards email on the flip. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Bcb http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Bcb/commentary#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:56:09 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/Bcb Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/Bcb/ Senator Feinstein's office has responded to our criticisms:   "Today's post on Senator Feinstein's amendment to the FISA bill contains a number of serious and misleading factual errors.  I write to correct the record, and I hope that you will update your post with this information.   1. You write the ACLU has been "vocal in their opposition" to the Feinstein amendment.  Not true.  They have not taken a position on the Feinstein amendment." We are currently waiting on the ACLU's response on the Feinstein amendment, though it is correct they have not been "vocal" in opposition to it to this point.   2. Additionally, you quote Tim Sparapani, ACLU senior legislative counsel, as evidence of the ACLU's opposition.  This quote – which appeared in The Hill, not Roll Call – is not in reference to the Feinstein amendment, but to the Specter amendment.                 "The ACLU, meanwhile, has condemned the Specter amendment because it believes the measure leaves some loopholes open to the government."  (The Hill, DoJ, ACLU cool to Specter's FISA deal, 01/17/08) http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/doj-aclu-cool-tospecters-fisadeal-2008-01-17.html   We did not claim this quote applied to Feinstein's amendment directly. Instead we used it to illustrate the reasoning behind our own opposition to Feinstein's amendment. More on this below. They are correct that the email sent out to Courage Campaign members said the quote was from Roll Call not The Hill. It is our mistake. 3. As for the content of the Sparapani quote, it does not apply to the Feinstein amendment providing independent judicial review of immunity claims.                      He said:  "Unless Congress wholly rejects [the] executive privilege or state secrets claims, there are legal hurdles that could prevent the full hearing of the matter in federal court," said Tim Sparapani, ACLU senior legislative counsel.  "We also oppose having the FISA court making the good faith determination unless outside parties are allowed to argue in front of the secret court, which has never happened before.  Otherwise, only one side is represented."   Let me explain how it doesn't apply: · First, the Feinstein amendment specifically rejects the state secrets claim.   · Second, the Feinstein amendment specifically allows outside parties to argue their case in front of the FISA Court.  The court's ruling can also be appealed to a higher court. But even if it allows outside parties (and even then only those who have already filed lawsuits, disempowering other Americans who have not yet filed), and even if their ruling can be appealed, that is still not the same as public, open courts handling this issue. And further, it would still potentially allow immunity - which we still flatly oppose - and would still use the discredited "good faith" determination to grant such immunity. The deck would remain stacked against plaintiffs and against the rule of law. Bottom line:  This amendment preserves independent judicial review of the telecom company's immunity claims.  If it can be shown that the companies were not acting based on legal government certification and not in good faith, then their claims of immunity can be denied by the Court. In yesterday's press release they said "OR" in good faith. Which is it - "and good faith" or "or good faith"?   This is a reasonable alternative.  It adds court review of any immunity.  It allows the companies and the plaintiffs to make their case before this federal court skilled in intelligence. We strongly disagree that this is a reasonable alternative. It is wrong for the FISA court or the US Senate, directly or indirectly , to grant or make possible immunity for illegal activity. No matter how Feinstein dresses this up, this is fundamentally designed to give the appearance of protecting legal rights while setting up a process that is virtually certain to provide immunity anyway.  http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Bc3 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Bc3/commentary#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:10:09 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/Bc3 Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 3 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/Bc3/ Now that the Senate has settled in after its winter vacation, the rubber is hitting the road. Floor hearings begin TONIGHT on the FISA extension and with it, telecom immunity. Senators Dodd and Feingold have pledged to filibuster any immunity for telecom companies who may have violated our Fourth Amendment privacy rights, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared in no uncertain terms that he'll force a true filibuster in order to stop yet another Bush victory. He's picked an odd time to take such a stand, since he's never actually forced a Republican filibuster, but make no mistake about the stakes here. Granting telecom immunity would establish the legal precedent which would give President Bush the same immunity. What's at stake is no less than whether Bush can or will be held accountable for his actions. That's why it's so vital to contact Senator Feinstein and insist that she oppose retroactive immunity. If we don't take a stand now on accountability and the basic rule of law, there's no telling when we'll get another chance. And I'm not much interested in cutting Bush any more slack. Senator Feinstein's vote is going to be key in the fight to protect our privacy and our Constitution. She has a bunch of phone numbers. Keep calling till one of them lets you through: 202-224-3841 (Washington, DC) 310-914-7300 (Los Angeles) 415-393-0707 (San Francisco) 619-231-9712 (San Diego) 559-485-7430 (Fresno) On the flip, check Eden's call to action. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcQ http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcQ/commentary#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:09:50 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lucasoconnor/BcQ Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BcQ/ (cross-posted on Calitics ) Ok, so the attempt to censure Senator Feinstein failed, but the attempt sure changed the conversation. Everyone from the New York Times editorial board to Fox News chimed in. Over 35,000 people and over 40 grassroots groups, clubs and organizations joined in. It really hit a nerve and catalyzed a new discussion about what it means to be a Democrat. Now it is time to do something positive and continue the conversation. Next week the Senate will again take up the re-authorization of FISA. Immunity for telecom companies will be a major battle within the larger re-authorization bill. Senator Dodd has promised to put a hold and filibuster the bill to prevent the attempt to let the telecommunications companies off the hook for following Bush's orders to break the law and spy on Americans without a warrant. Heck, the bill as written would not even let us even look into what exactly they did and who they spied on. Senator Feinstein has indicated that he will join this effort. CDP Chair Art Torres said that this issue was "very important" to him and one that he discussed with Senator Feinstein. Two Senators does not a filibuster make. They need some friends. We must hold the line together. So today the Courage Campaign sent out an email to our members (available below the fold) asking people to sign on to a letter to Chairman Torres requesting that he convey the message to Senator Feinstein to stand strong in opposing retroactive immunity for telecom companies. Will you join us? http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/juliarosen/BnF http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/juliarosen/BnF/commentary#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:03:46 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/juliarosen/BnF Julia Rosen, Online Political Director Julia Rosen, Online Political Director 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/BnF/