George Phillies for President 2008

January 30, 2008

George Phillies: Restore the Fourth Amendment

Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies today condemned the Bush Administration for attacking the Constitution. «Warrantless wiretaps of American citizens are felonies,» Phillies said. «There is no legal or Constitutional basis for extended warrantless searches of any kind. That’s exactly what the Bush Administration did.»

Beginning after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, DC, the Bush Administration authorized the NSA to monitor telephone, email and text messaging involving any party the NSA believes to be to be outside the U.S., even if the other side of the conversation is in the U.S.

«Warrantless wiretaps are a police state tactic,» Phillies said. «Its advocates are disloyal to our country. They’ve turned their backs on the Bill of Rights.»

The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects Americans against unreasonable search and seizure. Specifically, it says that the people shall be «secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects,» and requires very specific warrants granted upon probable cause for their search or seizure.

Senator Chris Dodd’s filibuster in December temporarily delayed a revision to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) bill that would not only have allowed secret courts the power to approve aspects of surveillance but would have granted telecom companies retroactive immunity for their cooperation with the Bush administration in past warrantless wiretapping activities.

«The Democratic party, by delaying action on the FISA Bill, has taken a weak first step toward restoring the Constitution,» said George Phillies. «America waited years for that step. That’s too slow! Only the Libertarian Party will restore our Constitutional liberties during our lifetimes.

«If elected, I will appoint a corps of special prosecutors to see that persons who committed warrantless searches are given fair trials and, if found guilty, sent to prison. Fortunately, the war on drugs has given us an absurdly huge prison system, so relocating the thousands of government officials and private persons who were apparently involved in this criminal conspiracy against every American to Club Fed for substantial terms will not require new prison construction.»

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Contact Information:

Carolyn Marbry, Press Director pressdirector@phillies2008.org
 

(510) 276-3216

George Phillies for President 2008 http://ChooseGeorge.org