National Security Letters again (L)

[AzDesertRat]

This post is sort of chilling. It is about a president of a small internet company who received a NSL and talks about his ongoing dilemma.

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....Three years ago, I received a national security letter (NSL) in my capacity as the president of a small Internet access and consulting business. The letter ordered me to provide sensitive information about one of my clients. There was no indication that a judge had reviewed or approved the letter, and it turned out that none had. The letter came with a gag provision that prohibited me from telling anyone, including my client, that the FBI was seeking this information. Based on the context of the demand -- a context that the FBI still won't let me discuss publicly -- I suspected that the FBI was abusing its power and that the letter sought information to which the FBI was not entitled.

....Living under the gag order has been stressful and surreal. Under the threat of criminal prosecution, I must hide all aspects of my involvement in the case -- including the mere fact that I received an NSL -- from my colleagues, my family and my friends. When I meet with my attorneys I cannot tell my girlfriend where I am going or where I have been. I hide any papers related to the case in a place where she will not look. When clients and friends ask me whether I am the one challenging the constitutionality of the NSL statute, I have no choice but to look them in the eye and lie.


I resent being conscripted as a secret informer for the government and being made to mislead those who are close to me, especially because I have doubts about the legitimacy of the underlying investigation.

[/ QUOTE ]

Full text here

Now if this doesn't make people shudder, I don't know what else you need. The basis of democracy is an open society and these post 9/11 laws are leading further down the other road. I don't know what I would have done if I were in that guy's shoes, but I would have added leaving the country as one of the items I would have considered.

[Phil153]

If things get too hot, they can simply invoke the State Secrets Privilege to squash the lawsuit.

With the Patriot Act and existing provisions, the executive has the power to do whatever it wants with no oversight, including the stifling of any free speech backed by force via arbitrary gag orders. At any time it can invoke the State Secrets Privilege to stop a court from intervening, so the executive is completely free from judicial oversight.

How you guys aren't rioting in the streets is beyond me.

[whiskeytown]

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How you guys aren't rioting in the streets is beyond me.

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I'm worried Minneapolis might get a little crazy during the Republican National Convention -

oh wait - it's in St. Paul - who cares [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

But NYPD was spying on protest groups a year before that convention. We have definately gotten as low as we've ever gotten - maybe we'll rebound like a drunk who embraces life.

The more we get out about how this administration has really been handling itself, I think the more outrage you'll see, but with any luck, that'll translate to votes instead of fists.

rb

[tolbiny]

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How you guys aren't rioting in the streets is beyond me.

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Cause they would shoot us, look us up or whatever.