From Techdirt.com:
The chief judge of FISC, Reggie Walton, who has reacted angrily in the past to the claims of FISC being a "rubber stamp", has now admitted that the FISC really can't check on what the NSA is doing and relies on what they tell him to make sure that they're not breaking the law.
“The FISC is forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to the Court,” its chief, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, said in a written statement to The Washington Post. “The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders.”
The chief judge of FISC, Reggie Walton, who has reacted angrily in the past to the claims of FISC being a "rubber stamp", has now admitted that the FISC really can't check on what the NSA is doing and relies on what they tell him to make sure that they're not breaking the law.
“The FISC is forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to the Court,” its chief, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, said in a written statement to The Washington Post. “The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders.”
While I'm certain that no one joins a secret NSA spying program with the intention of abusing the rights of anyone, particularly law-abiding, legal American citizens just standing on the corner minding their own business, the fact that the "oversight" of these programs consists primarily of a judge glancing at a stack of NSA letterhead and asking "Are you sure about this?" and the NSA agent nodding while waving another NSA paper and saying "Sure am! And here's the supporting documentation to prove its all legal!" is laughable... Or it would be, if it weren't so disheartening.Other courts have the specter of public scrutiny hanging over them to let them know when they've gone too far. The FISC court is protected from that oversight as well, due to the nature of the secret programs its designed to oversee.
But we shouldn't worry too much about the court's inability to police the NSA... Because the FISC court doesn't even have the capacity to verify whether or not the reported violations are intentional crimes or unintentional accidents.
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But we shouldn't worry too much about the court's inability to police the NSA... Because the FISC court doesn't even have the capacity to verify whether or not the reported violations are intentional crimes or unintentional accidents.
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