General Discussion

think

(11,641 posts) Mon Jun 10, 2013, 01:01 PM Jun 2013

The FISA court already found the NSA has violated the constitution in some instances

So why should it surprise anyone that an IT analyst working for a private contractor on behalf of the NSA can produce documents that corroborate the decision made by the FISA court?

In case you didn't hear about this ruling that is because the ruling has been classified by the DOJ. That's right. A secret court's ruling on the constitutionality of the NSA's actions has been rendered TOP SECRET.

Please note the bold emphasis on the two statements a US Senator got approval to make in regards to this court ruling. That's right a US Senator had to get clearance to make statements on a classified court ruling that stated the NSA was breaking the law:

Justice Department Fights Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional Surveillance

Government lawyers are trying to keep buried a classified court finding that a domestic spying program went too far.
—By David Corn
| Fri Jun. 7, 2013 12:22 PM PDT

~Snip~

This important case—all the more relevant in the wake of this week's disclosures—was triggered after Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate intelligence committee, started crying foul in 2011 about US government snooping. As a member of the intelligence committee, he had learned about domestic surveillance activity affecting American citizens that he believed was improper. He and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), another intelligence committee member, raised only vague warnings about this data collection, because they could not reveal the details of the classified program that concerned them. But in July 2012, Wyden was able to get the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify two statements that he wanted to issue publicly. They were:

* On at least one occasion the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held that some collection carried out pursuant to the Section 702 minimization procedures used by the government was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

* I believe that the government's implementation of Section 702 of FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] has sometimes circumvented the spirit of the law, and on at least one occasion the FISA Court has reached this same conclusion.

For those who follow the secret and often complex world of high-tech government spying, this was an aha moment. The FISA court Wyden referred to oversees the surveillance programs run by the government, authorizing requests for various surveillance activities related to national security, and it does this behind a thick cloak of secrecy. Wyden's statements led to an obvious conclusion: He had seen a secret FISA court opinion that ruled that one surveillance program was unconstitutional and violated the spirit of the law. But, yet again, Wyden could not publicly identify this program....

Full article:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/justice-department-electronic-frontier-foundation-fisa-court-opinion

A special thank you to DU member DirkGently, for previously posting about this secret court ruling and bringing it to our attention:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2981063

I've posted this similar article as it seems many have not been made aware of these facts.

10 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

The FISA court already found the NSA has violated the constitution in some instances (Original Post) think Jun 2013 OP

So the judicial oversight is effective? Cool Recursion Jun 2013 #1

And the NSA is compliance now? And we know that how? And the ruling should be classified? think Jun 2013 #3

Possibly? Snowden says no; hopefully we'll find out Recursion Jun 2013 #4

Hopefully we will... think Jun 2013 #7

The FISA court is using too broad an interpretation dkf Jun 2013 #6

(11,641 posts)

10. Snowden worked for the CIA & NSA before that.

Reply to randome (Reply #8)

Mon Jun 10, 2013, 01:23 PM

Jun 2013

The 3 month stint was with a private contractor working on behalf of the NSA. I had asked that question myself but another DU member reminded me of his previous employment.

Here's what the NY Times wrote in regards to his employment background:

Ex-Worker at C.I.A. Says He Leaked Data on Surveillance

By MARK MAZZETTI and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: June 9, 2013

~Snip~

After breaking his legs during a training accident, Mr. Snowden was discharged from the Army and took a job as a security guard at an N.S.A. secret facility on the University of Maryland’s campus, according to The Guardian, which said it had confirmed his story.

Despite not having a high school degree, he was later hired by the C.I.A. to work on information technology security, serving in Geneva. In 2009, he joined the N.S.A. as a contractor at a facility in Japan, where, he said, he watched “as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in.” ...

~Snip~

Full article:
www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/us/former-cia-worker-says-he-leaked-surveillance-data.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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