EFF Blasts NSA Spying “Compromise”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is blasting Sen Specter’s “compromise” legislation on the Bush administration’s NSA spying program:

While the final bill is not public, a draft of the bill obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a sham compromise that would cut off meaningful legal review–sweeping current legal challenges out of the traditional court system and failing to require court review or congressional oversight of any future surveillance programs.

“This so-called compromise bill is not a concession from the White House–it’s a rubber stamp for any future spying program dreamed up by the executive,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “In essence, this bill threatens to make court oversight of electronic surveillance voluntary rather than mandatory.”

Although the bill creates a process for the executive branch to seek court review of its secret surveillance programs, it doesn’t actually require the government to do so. The bill would, however, require that any lawsuit challenging the legality of any classified surveillance program–including EFF’s class-action suit against AT&T–be transferred, at the government’s request, to the FISA Court of Review, a secret court with no procedures for hearing argument from anyone but the government.

This is one of those times I wish at least one house of Congress were in Democratic hands. These issues need some actual public debate, not a closed-door compromise followed by Congressional white-washing. I bet Sen. Leahy wouldn’t be treating the White House with kid gloves.

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