Constitutional Law

Warrantless Surveillance Compromise Proposed; No Case for Blanket Immunity

The majority leadership in the House of Representatives has embraced a compromise measure [PDF] that would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, in a move intended to resolve a deadlock between the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, the Washington Post reported.

The proposed legislation would allow telephone companies to defend their role in the White House's warrantless surveillance program in secret ex parte hearings before a federal judge, which would include special rules to allow the introduction of secret evidence, but would not grant blanket retroactive immunity to the companies, according to the New York Times.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the legislation would (1) create a new commission to examine the warrantless surveillance program, (2) loosen judicial oversight while still requiring that a FISC judge approve new surveillance programs, and (3) allow telephone companies to defend themselves in the secret proceedings (described above) while limiting monetary damage awards if the company's actions are held illegal.

The House Judiciary Committee released a statement today saying that, after reviewing the classified information regarding warrantless surveillance, "the administration has not established a valid and credible case to justify granting blanket retroactive immunity at this time."

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).