NSA Warrant-Free Spying May Free Convicted Terrorists

The kerfuffle over the National Security Agency’s spying on US citizens without warrants, as ordered by President George “Lyndon” Bush, may wind up freeing convicted terrorists. The White House claims that securing a warrant took too long, endangered American lives and was legally unnecessary. Much to the chagrin of the administration, the nation remains a country a laws and due process. That means that men convicted of terrorism may wind up freed because of the warrant-free spying in a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences in action.

Since time immemorial, or at least, when the country started seeing TV cop shows in color, judges have thrown out trial evidence gathered without a warrant. The reasoning behind it is simple enough; the police won’t infringe on Fourth Amendment liberties if the proof so gathered gets thrown out of court. Law-and-order types complain about “technicalities,” but the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany could have done with a few of these technicalities. The law applies to the authorities as much as it does to the people.

Now, legal counsel for Ali al-Timimi and Iyman Faris, both in prison having been convicted of terror-related activities, want NSA records of warrant-free spying. Jonathan Turley, a lawyer for al-Timimi, said, “The government secured convictions against a variety of individuals who now seem likely to have been the targets of this operation. Now, ultimately those questions have to be answered if the government wants to protect those convictions. If the government cannot answer those questions, then there's going to be a lot of new trials in this country.” His client is not a nice man, sentenced to life after he was convicted of rallying followers to wage war on the United States.

The Faris case is even more worrying. This Ohio-based, truck-driving clown was convicted of plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge (as if folks from out of town could tell it from the Manhattan, Williamsburg or George Washington Bridges). NSA officials have confirmed to CNN that the warrant-free spying played a part in his conviction. His attorney, David Smith said, “I want to know in what way NSA's surveillance program impinged on his case. Did they actually listen to conversations of Mr. Faris, or was it merely that his phone number came up in a surveillance of another target?” A good lawyer could get any evidence related to surveillance tossed.

That brings up the big question. If Mr. Faris brings a lawsuit, and if he wins, what will the Bush administration say should the conviction be overturned? Complaining about the judiciary rings hollow when it was White House orders that screwed things up. Maybe, Mr. Faris could just be rendered out of America to Afghanistan and quietly tortured to death. Mr. Bush and his clique need to learn that the president cannot do whatever he wishes; his authority is limited in the constitution (there is no fuhrerprinzip). Indeed, the entire government enjoys power that is circumscribed by the constitution. That, and not physical security for Americans, makes it worth fighting for America. It would be nice if Mr. Bush's war on terror stopped bring a war on freedom.


© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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