On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 10:47:25AM -0800, Tim May wrote: > Secret trials are on the rise. Inasmuch as the U.S. is now throwing its > full weight behind secret evidence, secret prosecutions, secret trials, > secret appeals courts, suspension of habeas corpus, detention of Evil > Ones without charge at concentration camps in Cuba, suspension of the > Fourth and Fifth and Sixth Amendments, and elevation to guilt by
I spoke recently with a former DOD lawyer now at a TLA. That lawyer says that the current thinking is that if there is a "cyberattack" from another nation, we are at a state of war and the Fourth Amendment and other prohibitions on government interference with personal property and liberty do not apply.* -Declan * Yes, you could argue that after the War On Some Politically Unpopular Drugs, the USA Patriot Act's expansion of eavesdropping without a court order, the Dept of Homeland Security bill doing the same thing, the recent FISA appeals court decision, and so on, the 4A has already been eviscerated. But I'd say there's still a small amount of life in it for now.
