A secretive court has authorized more surveillance related to terrorism and espionage than ever before, according to Justice Department figures made public this week. 1,758 surveillance authorizations were approved and not one denied, up from 1,727 authorizations the year before.
The Justice Department figures submitted to Congress refer only to wiretaps, electronic surveillance and physical searches performed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (The FISA court is the subject of a legal and political debate over the Patriot Act, which enlarged the court's authority.) Last year's figures for other forms of wiretaps are not yet available.
What happened to our system of checks and balances?
Seriously, why is this even happening? Ever since 9/11, more and more of our liberties and freedoms are being taken way from us. Why aren't the courts stepping in to prevent this assult on our freedom? Better yet, what happened to the system of checks and balances that is supposed to prevent things like this from happening?
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
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