[Clips] Arlen Specter: FISA Law May be Unconstitutional

[R. A. Hettinga]

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  Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:00:26 -0500
  To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
  From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
  Subject: [Clips] Arlen Specter: FISA Law May be Unconstitutional
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<http://newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/5/142841.shtml?s=ic>

  Reprinted from NewsMax.com

  Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006 2:27 p.m. EST

  Arlen Specter: FISA Law May be Unconstitutional

  Sen. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Sunday that while
  President Bush's terrorist surveillance program is a "flat out violation"
  of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it may be entirely legal
  because of powers granted the president by the Constitution.

  "There is an involved question here . . . as to whether the president's
  powers under Article 2, his inherent powers, supersede a statute." Specter
  told NBC's "Meet the Press."

  The Pennsylvania Republican said that if the FISA statute "is inconsistent
  with the Constitution, the Constitution governs and the constitutional
  powers predominate."

  Specter, whose committee is set to commence hearings Monday into the
  surveillance program, said that when the FISA law was signed by President
  Carter, he voluntarily surrendered his power to conduct independent
  domestic surveillance without a warrant.

  "But that's not the end of the discussion," the top Republican cautioned,
  promising that his hearings would explore the issue of presidential
  prerogatives and the FISA Act's constitutionality - or lack thereof.

  Specter said he may call Carter as a witness to explain his thinking on the
  FISA law.

  "I've been discussing that, and it's on the agenda for consideration," he
  explained.

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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'