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I get your point, but a legal opinion from the Department of Justice is not the same as a "program." Set the hyperbole aside and realize that laws are always in
by zecho 14y ago
I get your point, but a legal opinion from the Department of Justice is not the same as a "program." Set the hyperbole aside and realize that laws are always in flux, and that the courts largely define things like "unreasonable search," etc. The statement from the parent is still true. There are penalties on the books. It takes people bringing abusers to court, though, to decide the exact nature of those penalties.
- bediger4000 14y agoIn the case of the near-universal snooping by the NSA and related agencies, the courts have ruled, I believe: nobody has standing. Virtually every time the US Government uses the "State Secrets" privilege, the courts just let it go. For all practical purposes, what seems to me as clear wording of the 4th Amendment gets taken to mean something else. It's not really hyperbole. There are penalties on the books, agreed. They're toothless for various factors, except maybe for the very wealthy personhoods among us.