Wiretapping Case Dismissed

[Kuciwalker]

There are ways to use the info gained from the surveillance program in ways beyond using the wire tip info directly in a criminal case. For example, federal agents hear Bob talking about cheating on his taxes. They pass that info on to the IRS. Bob is audited. His audit arose from an (allegedly) illegal wiretap, but he never know that. If the federal authorities are smart, they'll never use the info gained in the program in a way that exposes it to judicial review.

I believe Congress has explicitly made that sort of information-sharing illegal.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Um... so how would you challenge that sort of "illegal" information sharing?

[Kuciwalker]

How would you challenge the government secretly reading yor mind with laser beams? There are two distinct acts here - the information gathering and the information sharing. To use information that's illegally gathered, they either have to prosecute you (exposing that it's illegally gather, so it gets thrown out) or do something else illegal. The lack of safeguards on that "something else" are the problem (if there aren't safeguards).

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

There are ways to use the info gained from the surveillance program in ways beyond using the wire tip info directly in a criminal case. For example, federal agents hear Bob talking about cheating on his taxes. They pass that info on to the IRS. Bob is audited. His audit arose from an (allegedly) illegal wiretap, but he never know that. If the federal authorities are smart, they'll never use the info gained in the program in a way that exposes it to judicial review.

I believe Congress has explicitly made that sort of information-sharing illegal.

Congress also made wire-tapping without a court order illegal.

[Kuciwalker]

See the above post.

[chequita guevara]

I'd rather stop them at step one, illegally gathering the information so that they never get to step two, engaging in another illegal act based on that information. That is the first safeguard.

[DinoDoc]

@ che: Well if the Court doesn't buy the chilling effect arguement as they apparently do not, how would you go about establishing the fact you have the standing to actually file the suit?

[Zkribbler]

My fear is that if this practice can't be challenged in a civil suit, it will come up during a criminal prosecution, in which some terroists is successful at surpressing the evidence against him because it was gathered by illegal wiretaps.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
@ che: Well if the Court doesn't buy the chilling effect arguement as they apparently do not, how would you go about establishing the fact you have the standing to actually file the suit?

I guess we just grab our ankles.