Take 5 Minutes to Protect Your Privacy

Can you pick up the phone?

Congress is moving swiftly to "fix" the Protect America Act of 2007. The House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees have endorsed the Conyers-Reyes RESTORE Act (H.R. 3773) the acronym stands for "Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective."

Although this legislation is far better than the Protect America Act which the Administration wants to make permanent and expand, the ACLU wishes it were more "responsible" in terms of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment requires individual warrants before a search. But the RESTORE Act includes blanket warrants, which aren't really warrants at all, but a blank check allowing the government to vacuum up our international telephone calls and emails.

Please contact your representative.

Immediately and tell him or her:

• There must be individual warrants included in any bill Congress passes. Such warrants are essential to bring the surveillance of Americans in line with the Constitution.
• Under NO circumstances should Congress give amnesty to the phone companies for their role in warrantless eavesdropping. These companies violated the law. Congress should insist on accountability.
• Congress should insist on true court oversight. If it is serious about keeping checks and balances intact, it must allow the judiciary to play a significant role in overseeing the surveillance of Americans.
• Congress should not continue to legislate in the dark. Insist that the White House and Department of Justice turn over documents related to the warrantless eavesdropping program which were supposed to be given to the Senate Judiciary Committee last July.

In brief: put individual warrants into the RESTORE Act and keep immunity for the telecom giants out. And find out the facts about what the government has been doing secrecy kills democracy.

Thanks to:

Nancy Murray
Director of Education
ACLU of Massachusetts