As more government documents are released to the public, we are witnessing the unveiling of the true nature of the state. And it isn’t pretty.
The most recent troubling disclosure comes in the form of a redacted court ruling issued by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge. The document, although mostly blacked out, demonstrates the futility of depending on a Judicial System erroneously thought by many to be a check against unlawful government power.
In the document, Federal judge John D. Bates wrote an opinion stating that law-abiding citizens are fair game for investigation by the FBI under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, as long as it takes place within the context of a greater international terrorism investigation. This obviously gives a great deal of discretion to the feds to abuse the rights of Americans.
A blog post from Jennifer Granick of Just Security breaks it down further:
Despite the absence of illegal conduct, Judge Bates allows the FBI to investigate the American. Bates concludes that he may consider related conduct of other people that illuminates the “the character (protected by the first amendment or not) of the ‘activities’ that are the ‘basis’ of the investigation.” The other party’s or parties’ activities would not be protected by the First Amendment even if those people were US persons. Therefore, Judge Bates concludes that the investigation of the American is not based “solely” on First Amendment activities, but rather at least in part on the unprotected activities of others.
It’s more of the federal spy-state canard being forced upon us – the idea that we should cherish security over freedom. It is the idea that we need to cede our rights to federal authorities so they can keep us safe from whatever bogeyman we are supposed to be scared of this week.
In reality, there is no more frightening bogeyman than the political class lurking in Washington D.C. That’s why it is of the utmost importance to chain down every federal bureaucrat by the Constitution – without exceptions.
The idea that we can rely on government employees to protect our rights from being violated by other government employees is really a silly concept. It is impossible for politically connected judges beholden to those who put them into prestigious positions of power to consistently defend the freedoms of the people. The situation creates a conflict of interest that usually results in decisions slanted in favor of excessive state power.
Judicial impartiality is a thing of the past, if it ever existed at all. Contrary to their smug air of pomp and infallibility, judges have been making bizarre and incomprehensible rulings since the early days of the Republic. As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court once ruled that slavery was the law of the land, rebuking heroic states that were writing laws combating the dreaded practice.
Americans have had to deal with judicial malpractice for far too long. It is time to take the power back into our own hands before it is too late.
