We keep hearing about more and more revelations of unlawful spying on Americans, often with the President’s explicit approval. It’s really quite impressive (if not surprising) how often the regular oversight process for surveillance appears to be ignored or abused. The latest, brought to us, once again, by the tireless efforts of the EFF, is to reveal hundreds of reports from the Defense Department concerning surveillance efforts that the Inspector General has “reason to believe are unlawful.”
What’s really amazing here is that the US does have clear processes for surveillance and wiretapping efforts. But it seems like these processes are regularly ignored. So it makes you ask why? The most likely reason is that those involved know that these attempts wouldn’t be approved. For a country that supposedly believes in due process and civil rights, it seems like we have a long, long way to go.
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