FISA Amendment Act of 2008

I will emphasize some sentences/parts of sentences so no one can mistake the meaning of this report: This amendment was supposed to "sunset" at the END OF 2012. They voted to extend it in Dec. 2012 for another 5 years WITH NO CHANGES from the 2008 amendment. 

Please note that the FISA Amendment of 2008 and the very FIRST bill did not allow warrantless searches, nor did they allow for the unlawful searches of all persons inside the U.S., only those who contacted, or were contacted, by persons outside the U.S. in countries known for terrorism. They had to get a warrant to obtain the data.

What is happening now is the government has decided to skirt the law to suit themselves by using PRISM.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 provides critically important authority for the U.S. Intelligence Community to acquire foreign intelligence information

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 provides critically important authority for the U.S. Intelligence Community to acquire foreign intelligence information by targeting foreign persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States. It ensures that the Intelligence Community has the flexibility and agility it needs to identify and respond to terrorist and other foreign threats to our security.

Consistent with current FISA, the Act provides a key role for each branch of Government. It assigns responsibilities jointly to the Attorney General (AG) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to ensure that the Nation's chief law enforcement and intelligence officials work together in collecting foreign intelligence in accordance with the law. It requires the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) to review and approve, or order modifications to, the procedures required by the Act and to ensure that those procedures are consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. And it requires that information about the implementation of these new procedures be reported to Congress, to ensure that Congress can fulfill its oversight role.

PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTY PROTECTIONS FOR AMERICANS

Exclusivity. The Act reiterates the exclusive means provision from the 1978 FISA statute and requires express statutory authorization for electronic surveillance conducted outside of FISA and specific chapters of Title 18, United States Code.

Targeting Procedures. The targeting procedures are designed to ensure that only persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States will be targeted under these authorities. At least annually, the AG and DNI must submit to the FISA Court for review and approval targeting procedures for making that fundamental determination.

Minimization Procedures. Under FISA and Title 18, law enforcement and the Intelligence Community use minimization procedures to protect innocent conversations of Americans. Similarly in this Act, minimization procedures are instrumental in ensuring that information that is acquired about Americans, in the course of targeting foreigners, is used only for proper intelligence or law enforcement purposes. These procedures must be reviewed and approved at least annually by the FISA Court.

Individual Judicial Orders for Surveillance of Americans. The Act requires individual FISA Court orders based on probable cause for targeting Americans, not only when they are inside the U.S. but also, for the first time, when they are outside of the United States.

Read the rest here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121391360949290049.html