4 ms·
They shouldn't be spying on American citizens in the first place. That protection could possibly be extended to civilians in other countries as well, but there
by olympus 13y ago
They shouldn't be spying on American citizens in the first place. That protection could possibly be extended to civilians in other countries as well, but there's nothing in the Constitution about the rights of non-citizens.
However, spying on foriegn governments and militaries is okay. Non-governmental terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda are also fair game for spying. However, if the Al-Qaeda members that you are spying on are American citizens, then you need a warrant, preferrably one granted by a reputable court and not a secret rubber-stamp court.
- jedmeyers 13y ago"there's nothing in the Constitution about the rights of non-citizens." - you are wrong. Just read the text of the Fourth Amendment and try to find the word "citizen" there.
- pionar 13y agoYou're right about the citizens thing, but multiple court cases over the years have asserted that constitutional protections only apply to "US persons". So, citizens, legal residents, non-legal residents, visitors, anyone physically in the US.
- jedmeyers 13y agoVisitors will be kind of a stretch, as they might not have any substantial ties with the US "community" to be protected by the Fourth. The opposite thing goes for the legal temporary worker who went to visit home country for a couple of weeks - he should be protected. In any case I do not think NSA takes all those things into account when they figure out who is a "US person" and who is not, if they ever do that, of course.
- w_t_payne 13y agoDoes it apply to diplomats visiting the US? What about their families?
- mseepgood 13y ago> They shouldn't be spying on American citizens in the first place. Neither should they be spying on citizens and industries of friendly states and allies.