presidents, war, and *statutes*

[Harry Pohlman]

if evidence from NSA warrantless surveillance becomes the basis for a  
FISA application, then it could easily result in a criminal  
prosecution.  moreover, although we don't know if this has happened  
or not, such evidence could also be the basis for designating someone  
an enemy combatant and placing him or her in indefinite military  
detention.  in other words, an American citizen could be deprived of  
his liberty without due process of law based on evidence obtained in  
violation of the 4th Amendment, even though the writ of habeas corpus  
has not been suspended.  i would call that a rather serious consequence.

Harry Pohlman
Dickinson College


On Dec 21, 2005, at 12:11 PM, Sean Wilson wrote:

> Ok, Sandy, I do see the potential for harm. But it seems to me that  
> a privacy violation without arrest, publication, firing, or other  
> consequence is merely an offense to dignity only, and is therefore  
> materially different than other examples of privacy violations. I  
> would change my mind, Sandy, if I found out that they were sharing  
> information with law enforcement for criminal prosecution or were  
> using the information against their political enemies, etc. One of  
> the things that does bother me is that history teaches us that this  
> behavior will inevitably occur. But what I am most concerned about  
> right now is that the public debate does not have the issue framed  
> correctly. It should not be whether it is ok to violate normal  
> rules of civil liberties for the new rules of warfare, it should  
> be: how can we translate the old civil liberties regime (and what  
> it protected) into the new environment so that what results is  
> protection of free citizens AND the efficient prevention of mass  
> public harm from enemy operatives. The debate should focus on how  
> we are ensured (through law) that the data obtained from spying  
> will not be used improperly in the future.
>
> I thought we wanted law to fit society?
>
>
>
> Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq.
> Penn State University
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