Sunday, April 12, 2009

Obama Administration Quietly Expands Bush's Legal Defense of Warrantless Wiretapping

Obama Administration Quietly Expands Bush's Legal Defense of Warrantless Wiretapping



Obama taking sides with the Bush administration about warrantless wiretapping, and making it almost impossible for his administration and government agencies to be sued because of their eavesdropping efforts. In response to the lawsuit filed by a civil liberties group, the Justice Department argued that the government was protected by " sovereign immunity" from lawsuits There is a small clause in the Patriot Act.



The Obama Administration's brief discussion that agencies cannot be sued for wiretapping American citizens even if there was intentional violation of U.S. law. They belief that the government may only be sued if wiretaps involve "willful disclosure". " A 'willful violation' in sections 223(c(1) refers to the 'willful disclosure of intelligence information by the government agencies, as described in section 223 (a)(3) and (b)(3), and such disclosures by the government are the only actions that create liability against the U.S. (Byrne 1).



I believe that the Government has the right to wiretap as much as the want to, if it is used for the right purpose. Maybe the government can stop crimes, terrorism, scandals, fraud, and etc. before they begin. This is the type of protection that our country needs, especially in it's time of need.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Iowa Supreme Court Rules Same Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Iowa Supreme Court Rules Same Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Iowa now becoming the third state to allow same sex marriages, the other two being Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled unanimously the Defense of Marriage Act to be a violation of the state constitution under the equal protection clause. Several cases have been brought about over the course of the last few years in Iowa, resulting in this ruling.

As a human being protected by the Constitution I agree with their ruling. How can we possibly be fair dictating how someone lives their lives? I may not like it, but who am I or anyone else to judge someones happiness. Most people, Judicial systems should think like these three states.

This article is a great example of the power of the Constitution. It was made to protect the rights of citizens and that is what it has done in this case.