If Republican Senator Branden Petersen gets his way, any evidence collected through illegal NSA surveillance techniques would be inadmissible in Minnesota courtrooms.
Senator Petersen recently introduced SF 33, which states:
A government entity may not obtain personal identifying information concerning an individual without a search warrant. A court order granting access to this information must be issued only if the government entity shows that there is probable cause for belief that the individual who is the subject of the personal identifying information is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a criminal offense.
Concerns over illegal National Security Agency (NSA) information collection came to a head two years ago when NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the agency regularly collected data from Americans, even if they weren’t suspected of any criminal wrongdoing. Snowden wasn’t the only former NSA employee to complain about the agency’s data collection tactics. Former NSA technical chief William Binney said the NSA spying was “the most threatening situation to our constitutional republic since the Civil War.”
Senator Peterson’s bill is hoping to enhance the fourth amendment protections of average Americans.
“It seems like we’re always addressing issues after the fact when it comes to certain government technologies and methodologies. It does make more sense to simply address it in a more universal way so that explicitly the protections of the Fourth Amendment are extended to electronic data,” said Petersen.
While Petersen’s bill would strengthen Fourth Amendment protections, not all legislators are on board. U.S. State Senator Amy Klobuchar, for example, believes the NSA’s tactics have prevented the US from experiencing a tragedy similar to 9/11. Speaking without specifics, Klobuchar said the data collection allows the agency to identify potential terror threats before they occur, not after.
Keeping citizens safe is ideal, but not at the expense of our privacy and unalienable rights. As the great patriot Ben Franklin once said, “those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.” Citizens need to be protected from the reach of a new Big Brother.
Related source: Inquisitr
