The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Issues

On 10 July 2008 President George W. Bush signed into law the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 which was passed by both houses of Congress, that specifically allows warrantless searches of American citizens!

Also, FISA 2008 granted retroactive immunity for those telecommunications companies which ignored the US Constitution and Federal Law to illegally monitor the electronic communications of American citizens.

The History of FISA

In 1978, the Church Committee completed a review of government surveillance programs and recommended reforms that would protect the rights of Americans. To prevent future illegal searches of American citizens, Congress passed the FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). FISA required the government to go before the FISA court and obtain a secret warrant before beginning surveillance of Americans. In emergency cases, the 1978 law permitted the government to keep Americans under surveillance for up to 24 hours without a warrant.

In 2001, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act, which extended the emergency warrantless period for up to 72 hours. The Patriot Act also legalized other violations of basic Constitutional rights.

From 1978 to 2004, the FISA court granted 13,995 out of 14,000 warrants requested by the government. In 26 years, only 5 requests for surveillance were denied.

Despite the FISA court's compliance, from # to # the Bush administration bypassed the law and had telecommunications companies monitor the electronic communications of American citizens without a warrant.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 allows government surveillance of US citizens for up to 7 days before obtaining a warrant. If the FISA court refuses the warrant application, the Act allows the government to continue the surveillance while the government resubmits its request for a warrant. This warrantless surveillance can go on for as long as # days. Even if the warrant is ultimately denied, evidence collected during the surveillance can nonetheless be used in a court of law.