By Daniel Rigney The now-surfacing secret Internet data mining operation PRISM raises once again the ancient question in political philosophy: Who will watch the watchers?
In this instance, who will ensure that NSA and whatever administration happens to be in power at the moment won’t grossly abuse their legalish authority to surveil their fellow citizens?
The standard answer in this case is that judicial oversight will be the responsibility of a secret FISA court [article excerpted below].
[Now I’m wondering: Applications from whom? Can anyone apply? NSA? FBI? CIA? Military intelligence? Congress? Private corporations or citizens with clout?]
According to the Federal Judicial Center, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (115 Stat. 272) “expanded the time periods for which the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can authorize surveillance and increased the number of judges serving the court from seven to eleven.”
Inquiring minds want to know how the members of this court are selected, who these eleven federal district judges are, and what their judicial philosophies bode for our public future. If these are the people who watch the watchers, who’s watching them?
In this instance, who will ensure that NSA and whatever administration happens to be in power at the moment won’t grossly abuse their legalish authority to surveil their fellow citizens?
The standard answer in this case is that judicial oversight will be the responsibility of a secret FISA court [article excerpted below].
The [Foreign Intelligence Service] act created a court which meets in secret, and approves or denies requests for search warrants.
Only the number of warrants applied for, issued and denied, is
reported. In 1980 (the first full year after its inception), it approved
322 warrants.[9] This number has steadily grown to 2,224 warrants in 2006.[10]
In the period 1979-2006 a total of 22,990 applications for warrants
were made to the Court of which 22,985 were approved (sometimes with
modifications; or with the splitting up, or combining together, of
warrants for legal purposes), and only 5 were definitively rejected.[11]
Established in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)
designated seven federal district court judges to “review applications
for warrants related to national security investigations.” [Now I’m wondering: Applications from whom? Can anyone apply? NSA? FBI? CIA? Military intelligence? Congress? Private corporations or citizens with clout?]
According to the Federal Judicial Center, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (115 Stat. 272) “expanded the time periods for which the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can authorize surveillance and increased the number of judges serving the court from seven to eleven.”
Inquiring minds want to know how the members of this court are selected, who these eleven federal district judges are, and what their judicial philosophies bode for our public future. If these are the people who watch the watchers, who’s watching them?
Quite a few of us now, it would seem, are getting curiouser and curiouser, eager to learn more about the eleven watcher-watchers.
Are we ordinary citizens permitted to investigate the nature and
composition of this court more deeply and collaboratively without fear
of reprisal?
Civil
libertarians of all stripes, red and blue alike, will want to know more
about FISC in the days ahead. Here, finally, is an issue on which
untold millions of Americans can come together across party lines and
help educate each other for the sake of the general welfare.
I
hope to look further into these questons myself, but first I’m going to
send a contribution to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They’re already on the case.
;] standing in front of the stretch limo since 2011
TIP:
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