In the name of “fixing” the illegal immigration problem and improving national security, Trump and the GOP have advanced a host of legislative initiatives that even Barack Obama would love.
One such initiative was the re-authorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) back in January. Forced through Congress by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, FISA 702 was renewed for six years, despite concerns that, according to Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), it allows the government to conduct warrantless electronic searches in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Thought originally originated during the Cold War, FISA has grown since 9/11 into a weapon used by agencies such as the NSA to spy on anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even though these abuses were common knowledge—leading to the passage of the USA Freedom Act to rein in the government’s abuse of power—big government progressives within the GOP joined hands to let the feds keep their unconstitutional power.
Though Amash’s efforts to protect our Constitutional rights failed in Congress, local leaders in his home state recently exercised their Tenth Amendment rights by passing a law telling Trump and the GOP where they can get off when it comes to FISA 702.
This past Monday, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill prohibiting the state from providing “material support or resources to a federal agency to enable it to collect, or to facilitate in the collection for use of person’s electronic data” unless one of five conditions are met:
(a) The person has given informed consent.
(b) The action is pursuant to a warrant that is based upon probable cause and particularly describes the person, place, or thing to be searched or seized.
(c) The action is in accordance with a legally recognized exception to warrant requirements.
(d) The action will not infringe on any reasonable expectation of privacy the person may have.
(e) This state or a political subdivision of this state collected the electronic data or metadata legally.
State Rep. Martin Howrylak (R), the sponsor of HB4430 which passed 108-1 in the House and 37-0 in the Senate, explained the bill:
“This reform safeguards the fundamental rights of all Michigan residents, who are guaranteed protection of their property and privacy rights by the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. Michigan will not assist the federal government with any data collection unless it is consistent with the Constitution.”
FISA 702 empowers a secret court to rubber-stamp general warrants that authorize spying on broad swaths of Americans without probable cause. Typically, this authorization lets the government spy indiscriminately on all land lines, mobile devices, and desktop computers in a given area.
Obviously, Trump and the GOP can’t be trusted to protect and defend the Constitution. It’s up to the states to exercise their Tenth Amendment rights to do what Trump and the GOP are unwilling to do.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His politically incorrect and always “right” columns are featured on RedState.com, NOQReport.com, and TheResurgent.com.
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