Apparently, the words ‘national security’ are important to national security
The ACLU has put together one of the more amusing reports I’ve seen in a while in response to a successful lawsuit against provisions of Bush’s Patriot Act.
Materials that the administration had heavily censored from public view were released yesterday for the first time, following a federal court ruling from last year. The funny part is seeing some of the words and phrases the administration wanted to keep hidden.
* In the name of national security, the government sought to black out references in legal papers to the words “national security.”
* This sentence from a statement by an FBI agent, according to the Bush administration, had to be blacked out: “I am a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
* The fact that the FBI issued a National Security Letter “written on FBI letterhead” had to be kept secret.
It’s important information to keep in mind for the future. The next time we hear that the administration has to keep important information hidden from public view, especially as it pertains to the Patriot Act, remember the malleable definition the Bush gang uses for “important information.”
It’s one thing to classify intelligence about possible criminal activity or sensitive investigations; it’s another when the administration wants to censor innocuous words and phrases because it wants to and thinks it can get away with it.
It’s also worth noting that the decision that led to these releases was part of a key victory for civil liberties.
The September decision struck down as unconstitutional a law that permitted the FBI to issue National Security Letters (“NSLs”) — letters that allow the FBI to obtain sensitive customer records from Internet Service Providers and other businesses without judicial oversight.
The NSL provision is worded so broadly, the ACLU said, that it could be used to obtain the names of a political organization’s members, the names of a journalist’s sources, or the names of people who write anonymous “blogs” on the Internet. The provision permitted the FBI to obtain this information without a subpoena or search warrant and without judicial oversight of any kind.
The September decision also struck down an associated gag provision, saying “an unlimited government warrant to conceal” has no place in our open society. The ruling was the first to strike down a surveillance provision of the Patriot Act. The court has not yet set a schedule for hearing the government’s appeal of the ruling.
The ACLU, for all of the condemnation it receives, has been doing tremendous work lately. Between the torture documents it’s obtained, and the Patriot Act provisions it’s taken on, the ACLU is performing brilliantly.