Response to post 1

A lot of ongoing debate has happened since your last blog post on the topic of NSA surveillance.  A federal judge declared the NSA program unconstitutional, then a White House panel released its own report on the NSA program and now a different federal judge has declared it constitutional.  Today (January 2nd) the New York Times and the Guardian issued editorials calling on the Obama administration to pardon Edward Snowden.

For response post, write a response to either the judge who ruled the NSA surveillance unconstitutional  or to the judge who ruled it constitutional and explain what you agree or disagree with in their argument.

Your post should refer specifically to at least 1 quote the judge said.

This post is due on Friday, January 10th.

Welcome to Tri 2!

According to the Fourth Amendment, "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."  This amendment was written and ratified in a very different time - one where there was no internet, no email, no cell phones, etc.  There has been a significant dialogue since this summer about what expectations of privacy should we as Americans have and when and when is it not legitimate for the US government to listen/monitor/record our digital communication.  Considering the NSA/Snowden scandal answer the following questions:

- Is the NSA violating our 4th Amendment rights and if so whose responsibility is it to rein them in?
- What are examples of governmental actions you find constitutional and what are examples of governmental action  you find unconstitutional under the 4th Amendment in the name of national security?

This post is due on Friday, December 13th but the response post isn't due until Friday, January 10th.  Please use a minimum of 3 sources.  If you don't know where to go I highly recommend going to the Guardian - their reporter Glenn Greenwold broke the Snowden story and they have a lot of coverage.  

Good luck and let me know if you need help finding research to back up your opinions.