It will be interesting to read the Bill once it
is filed later this week to see what changes get made at the last minute.
Mike DeWine can be reached by calling his office
at (202) 224-2315, or by contacting him via the
web at:
http://dewine.senate.gov/request_form.cfm
-jma
http://www.editorsweblog.org/print_newspapers/2006/03/us_new_threat_on_media_disclosing_classi.php
US: new threat on media disclosing classified information
As soon as next week, proposed US legislation
could impose criminal penalties on journalists
who report on government surveillance, according
to some legal analysts. According to the AP, the
draft legislation would increase criminal
penalties for anyone who "'intentionally
discloses information identifying or describing'
the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance
program or any other eavesdropping program
conducted under a 1978 surveillance program."
The increased penalties include fines of up to $1
million, 15 years in jail or both if found guilty.
Kate Martin, director of the Center for National
Security Studies, says the language of the bill
is broader than any existing laws and does not
specify that the information has to be harmful to
national security or classified. "The bill would
make it a crime to tell the American people that
president is breaking the law, and the bill could
make it a crime for the newspapers to publish
that fact," said Martin, a civil liberties advocate.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,
believes anyone could be prosecuted due to the
language of the proposed bill. However, Mike
Dawson, aide to the bill's chief author, says
that "it in no way applies to reporters - in any
way, shape or form, if a technical fix is necessary, it will be made."
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/10/AR2006031001677.html
Reporters Exempt From Eavesdropping Bill
By KATHERINE SHRADER
The Associated Press
Friday, March 10, 2006; 6:01 PM
WASHINGTON -- Reporters who write about
government surveillance could be prosecuted under
proposed legislation that would solidify the
administration's eavesdropping authority,
according to some legal analysts who are
concerned about dramatic changes in U.S. law.
But an aide to the bill's chief author, Sen. Mike
DeWine, R-Ohio, said that is not the intention of the legislation.
"It in no way applies to reporters _ in any way,
shape or form," said Mike Dawson, a senior policy
adviser to DeWine, responding to an inquiry
Friday afternoon. "If a technical fix is necessary, it will be made."
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft
of the legislation, which could be introduced as soon as next week.
The draft would add to the criminal penalties for
anyone who "intentionally discloses information
identifying or describing" the Bush
administration's terrorist surveillance program
or any other eavesdropping program conducted under a 1978 surveillance law.
Under the boosted penalties, those found guilty
could face fines of up to $1 million, 15 years in jail or both.
Kate Martin, director of the Center for National
Security Studies, said the measure is broader
than any existing laws. She said, for example,
the language does not specify that the
information has to be harmful to national security or classified.
"The bill would make it a crime to tell the
American people that the president is breaking
the law, and the bill could make it a crime for
the newspapers to publish that fact," said Martin, a civil liberties advocate.
DeWine is co-sponsoring the bill with Sens.
Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. The White
House and Republican Senate leaders have
indicated general support, but the bill could
face changes as it works its way through Congress.
Existing U.S. law makes it a crime to disclose
classified information to an unauthorized person,
generally putting the burden on government
officials to protect the information.
But a special provision exists to provide added
protections for highly classified electronic _ or
"signals" _ intelligence. That would include U.S.
intelligence codes or systems used to break them.
David Tomlin, the AP's assistant general counsel,
said government officials with security
clearances would be potential targets under DeWine's bill.
"But so would anyone else who received an illegal
disclosure under the proposed act, knew what it
was and deliberately disclosed it to others.
That's what some reporters do, often to great public benefit," he said.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,
said the language would allow anyone _ "if you
read a story in the paper and pass it along to
your brother-in-law" _ to be prosecuted.
"As a practical matter, would they use this to
try to punish any newspaper or any broadcast? It
essentially makes coverage of any of these
surveillance programs illegal," she said. "I'm
sorry, that's just not constitutional."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20060309-1537-eavesdropping.html
GOP bill could allow warrantless surveillance information into court
By Katherine Shrader
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:37 p.m. March 9, 2006
WASHINGTON – Four moderate Republican senators
have put together legislation that is raising
questions about whether information from federal
wiretaps started without a judge's approval can
be used in court, as the bill's chief sponsor favors.
The proposal is aimed at ending the dispute over
President Bush's warrantless surveillance
program. But legal and civil liberties experts
said Thursday the measure ultimately could cause
further controversy about how the information
collected is used in terrorism prosecutions.
The Associated Press obtained a draft of bill,
which is expected to be introduced soon by Sens.
Mike DeWine of Ohio, Olympia Snowe of Maine,
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The senators have said the bill is designed to
provide more protection from terrorists attacks.
Ultimately, federal judges will decide how the
program's information – obtained without a
warrant – is used in legal proceedings, said
DeWine, a former county prosecutor who has spearheaded the legislation.
Mike Dawson, a senior policy adviser to DeWine,
said the bill is intended to get the secretly
obtained information into court. “The
intelligence officials have to have probable
cause before they start to obtain that
information, which is why we think it's constitutional,” he said.
But David Sobel, general counsel at the
Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the
use of such information in judicial proceedings
would violate the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
“The problem – in this new strange environment –
is that the government would probably claim the
circumstances under which this information was
collected was classified, and neither the court
nor the defendant can look into the circumstances,” Sobel said.
After the Bush administration's surveillance
program was disclosed in December, some legal
experts predicted that any constitutionally
suspect information could jeopardize terrorism cases.
At least one person convicted in such a case,
Ohio truck driver Iyman Faris, has since asked a
federal judge to throw out the charges against
him. U.S. officials have credited Bush's
eavesdropping program with unraveling Faris'
failed plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
In a second case, the Justice Department on
Thursday responded to a judge's order to disclose
whether information collected under the
surveillance program was used against Ahmed Omar
Abu Ali. The U.S. citizen was convicted last year
of joining al-Qaeda and plotting to assassinate the president.
Prosecutors said the filing could not be made
public because it contained classified information.
Under DeWine's bill, no information gleaned from
the surveillance program could be used by federal
officials, “except for lawful purposes.” It says
the information could be used to get a warrant,
distributed among government agencies or
presented as evidence in a criminal proceeding.
The bill was negotiated with the administration
and has the general support of the White House,
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
The government would have up to 45 days to
monitor calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists
when one party is in the U.S. and the other is
overseas. Like Bush's existing presidential
order, the government would not have to get court approval.
After 45 days, federal officials would have to
stop the eavesdropping, seek a warrant or explain
to House and Senate subcommittees why the
monitoring must continue the way it is.
Without waiting for a new law, Roberts' committee
this week formed a subcommittee of seven
lawmakers to begin overseeing the program. They
received their first briefing in the White House situation room on Thursday.
Tom Newcomb, who spent 25 years in national
security in all three branches of government,
said the bill raises a number of questions.
For instance, the legislation allows the
surveillance of terrorist groups on a list
written by the president. But it does not address
the issue of a “lone wolf” planning an attack,
said Newcomb, now at Tiffen University in Ohio.
It also doesn't deal with a group whose name is not known.
“The bottom line there is those groups represent
just as great a danger to our national security
as those who have a label,” Newcomb said.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:19 CST