ACLU Applauds House Democrat FISA Plan to Eliminate Telecom Immunity

Not surprising at all:

“While we still have concerns about aspects of the new House FISA bill, the American Civil Liberties Union is encouraged by the new draft – particularly the language on state secrets, which would allow the cases to go forward while allowing the telecommunications companies to assert any defenses. We commend House leadership for keeping the courthouse door open. And in particular, we applaud the House for refusing to adopt the overreaching FISA Amendments Act, which would give the executive branch carte blanche to wiretap on US soil and grant complete retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that facilitated years of illegal surveillance. We are also heartened by the role retained by the FISA court in overseeing the program as well as the two-year sunset on the legislation.

“We do, however, continue to have the same reservations we had about the RESTORE Act passed by the House last fall. The provisions in that bill and this new bill allowing for bulk collection of communications and dragnets are inconsistent with Fourth Amendment protections and thus we cannot endorse the bill.

Blah, blah blah. Too bad for the ACLU that this “compromise” will be dead on arrival.

Ed Morrissey says it well:

This doesn’t do anything to resolve the issue for the telecoms. It forces them into costly legal defenses, ensuring that they have to spend fortunes in depositions and preparation. What do they get at the end of all that? A judge gets to decide whether the DoJ assurances remove liability, but only on a case-by-case basis.

Wow. What generosity for companies that tried to help secure the nation from terrorist attack!
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate acted in the best interest of national security.

House Democrats have acted in the best interest of their trial-lawyer contributors. The Senate should reject this sop to the class-action lawsuit industry and remind their colleagues in the lower chamber of their responsibility.

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