Yet another Hacker News

The US Government Is Hiding Secret Court Ruling About How It Spies on Americans

143 points helterskelter2 1 hour ago 22 comments

TheCoelacanth 54 minutes ago | parent

Secret courts are anathema to democracy and need to be abolished.

tastyfreeze 11 minutes ago | parent

I came to say the same thing. The secret courts and even the administrative agency courts should not exist. They are a violation of our rights. Any court where the prosecution, judge and jury are all government employees is a gross abuse of authority.

edot 45 minutes ago | parent

"Wyden has also warned about a classified interpretation of Section 702 that he says multiple administrations have relied on and refused to declassify. “When it is eventually declassified,” he said in March, “the American people are going to be stunned that it took so long and that Congress had been debating this authority with insufficient information.”"

Spying on American citizens is a bipartisan point of agreement.

koops 20 minutes ago | parent

To be fair, the one raising this point, Wyden, is a Democrat.

jagged-chisel 16 minutes ago | parent

The one raising the point. Apparently standing alone amongst otherwise bipartisan support of spying on Americans.

advisedwang 7 minutes ago | parent

Wyden is the ranking D member of the intelligence committee (ie would be chair under a D senate). He's not some maverick bucking his party, this is the expression of the party position.

BoofMcQueen42 14 minutes ago | parent

Wyden is an aberration. He (unfortunately) does not represent the party on these issues.

iAMkenough 12 minutes ago | parent

Ever since the Citizens United decision, economic class is what divides us, not which team you vote for.

One party is a little more willing to allow working class candidates to succeed, but both major parties are known for engaging in ratfucking.

podgorniy 10 minutes ago | parent

Spying on American citizens and going together on Lolita Express to Epstein island...

Larrikin 9 minutes ago | parent

I love the both siding argument springing up right before election day.

trinsic2 5 minutes ago | parent

You know what I love? We have spent over 100 years going back and forth on party politics. It has done nothing to move the bar on justice. The democrats silently allow the same things under the radar while the republicans do things out in the open. Its the carrot and the stick approach. Populism isn't working. We need to focus on systemic change. Both parties are filled with institutionalists that will do nothing to stop the real abuses because they gain significantly by keeping things they way they are..

Larrikin 2 minutes ago | parent

State an actual solution, you're just making a covert both sides argument under the guise of a longer rant.

StanislavPetrov 5 minutes ago | parent

It's all one side as far as I'm concerned and always has been.

ARandomerDude 19 minutes ago | parent

The debate about reapproval of section 702 is all theater. Does anyone genuinely believe the government would stop surveilling us if the authorization expired?

tokai 18 minutes ago | parent

This headline has been relevant since 2001.

sharts 15 minutes ago | parent

This kind of thing will never stop. And those who control it have all the leverage and power.

Perhaps all the spying data should just be publicly accessible and easily accessible for all to use and abuse.

Would democratizing it all so there is never an expectation of privacy from the public vs a select few in power be better in the long run?

advisedwang 9 minutes ago | parent

They don't want the public to see the big green "APPROVED" rubber stamp that the FISC uses.

baggachipz 9 minutes ago | parent

> The Trump administration has until November 6 to answer the senators.

How convenient that this is right after the midterm elections. If they maintain control, the republicans can simply decide to ignore this requirement without penalty.

CWuestefeld 8 minutes ago | parent

Remind me in February to look back at how much the Democrats have done about it.

V__ 3 minutes ago | parent

I will always be baffled by the dichotomy of "the US has the most freedom" and "no democratic country spies more on its citizens".

matthewmcg 2 minutes ago | parent

He should go further and describe or read these secret rulings on the Senate floor, where the speech and debate clause protects him.