Friends,
Consider joining us for our annual Interdependence Day Demo at the National
Security Agency, located at Fort Meade, Maryland. We will be leaving
Baltimore at 9:15 AM for a 10 AM to 11 AM demo against the NSA’s illegal and
unconstitutional behavior. Generally on the Fourth of July, besides the
demo, we would do a picnic. However, after the demo at the NSA, some of
us will head to D.C. to join CODEPINK for the Trump is a Big Baby July 4
Festival with the Baby Trump Blimp from 2 to 6 PM on Thursday, July 4 at the
Northwest corner of the National Mall at 17th street, Washington, D.C. So
instead of a July 4 picnic, some of us will dine in D.C. The evening
picnic will instead take place on Saturday, July 6. For details about the
demo at the NSA, the festival in D.C. and the July 6 picnic, contact Max at
410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net. Kagiso, Max
Regarding
members of the Maryland delegation, only Raskin and Sarbanes voted the right
way. To see that Cummings voted for continued surveillance was really
disappointing. Max
House
Rejects Amendment to Curb NSA Surveillance
June 24, 2019 by Jake Wartel
In
a loss for American privacy rights, the House of Representatives voted down
an amendment to
the minibus that would have reined in abuse of Section 702 of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act. Since Edward Snowden revealed the massive reach
of the National Security Agency, Section 702 has been exposed as allowing the
NSA to warrantlessly collect data of US persons. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Zoe
Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced an amendment to remedy this. It was defeated 175-253 as
both Republicans and Democrats found common ground in continuing to protect the
expansive surveillance state .
Section
702 focuses on the NSA’s ability to intercept communications from foreign
intelligence targets outside the United States, something that requires no
warrant. Searches under Section 702 have been shown to catch the data of 9 to 10
unintentional people when used to search targets. This is
called “incidental collection” and includes the communications of US persons
for whom a warrant would have been required to obtain. The incidentally
collected communications, including that of US persons, isn’t thrown out, but
is instead stored for other agencies to use. Under so-called “backdoor
searches,” agencies, including the FBI and DEA, search these communications
without ever obtaining a warrant.
The backdoor
searched used by the NSA and other agencies allow them to
collect data on US persons without a warrant, violating the 4th amendment.
Section 702 was renewed in 2018 in a bipartisan
effort, much in the way that the amendment was rejected by members
of both parties.
The
Lofgren-Amash amendment sought to fix this. The amendment would
have prevented the targeting of people outside the United States with the
intent to collect information on US persons. In addition it would have
prevented the NSA from collecting data with no target (known as “about
collection:”) , and stopped data collection of people who are known to be within
the United States. Although hardly a full repeal of Section 702, the amendment
would have prevented some of the more blatant civil liberties violations.
We’ve constantly opposed these draconian surveillance laws, hosting a briefing on the section 702, and helping push action against the overreaches of FISA in Congress. Sean Vitka and Daniel Schuman wrote in Just Security explaining that “in our view, [Section 702] permits significant offenses against Americans’ civil liberties. Section 702 authorizes two truly alarming efforts that must be reformed or ended.” These tools give the NSA and other agencies the ability to surveil millions, while paving the way for unconstitutional and dangerous actions.
As a grassroots advocacy organization wielding
limited resources, Defending Rights & Dissent is not in a position to
offer individual legal advice or representation.
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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