Thursday, December 22, 2005

BushCo: Those Damn Uppity FISA Judges! We are a Monarchy!... how Dare Thee?

Yes... how dare a judge have standards? Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Crt, sent a letter to Chief Jus Roberts late Monday notifying him of his resignation w/out providing an explanation. 2 associates familiar w/his decision said that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the pres in 2001 was legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA crt's work. Scott Silliman, a former Air Force attorney and Duke Univ law professor said: "This was definitely a statement of protest. It is unusual because it signifies that at least 1 member of the crt believes that the pres has exceeded his legal authority." (And let's be serious here, the crt has only denied 5 requests for warrants out of nearly 19,000 granted over the yrs). Other judges contacted said they do not plan to resign but are seeking more info about the president's initiative... uh... yeh, do ya think? Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who also sits on the US District Crt for DC, told fellow FISA crt members by e-mail Mon that she is arranging for them to convene in DC, preferably early next month, for a secret briefing on the program, several judges confirmed. Good for Judge Robertson for resigning from this very secret crt, whose sole duty it is to only hear arguments from the govt as to why the crt should permit the activity. I guess even he has standards when it comes to govt abuse of power.
Posted by Tina :: 12:30 AM :: 0 Comments:

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