ACLU Seeks Answers and Congressional Oversight on President Bush’s Snooping Authority (1/4/2007)
Questions Raised Over Bush’s Power to Open Americans’ Mail Without a
Warrant FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
media@aclu.org
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today said that it plans to
file a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information about President
Bush’s statement that he is authorized to open people’s mail without a warrant
in emergency conditions.
The ACLU is also calling on Congress to exercise its oversight function and
to require the Postal Service to report to Congress annually and publicly the
number of times each year it opens mail without a warrant.
“The President’s signing statement raises serious concerns that the
Administration’s warrantless surveillance of telephone calls and Internet
communications extends to the U.S. mail, as well,” said ACLU Executive Director
Anthony D. Romero. “Given the President's dismal record of violating the
privacy rights of Americans, we must question whether he is authorizing the
opening of mail without a warrant in violation of the Constitution and laws
enacted by Congress.”
“We call on Congress to demand that the administration provide reports so
that it can monitor how this power is being used. Meanwhile, the ACLU will be
seeking answers through the Freedom of Information Act,” said Romero.
The December 20 “signing statement” issued by President Bush leaves many
questions unanswered, the ACLU said, including the number of times this power
has been used, whether people who are searched are notified after the fact, and
what policies are being put in place to conduct the searches. The ACLU
expects to file a FOIA request asking these and other questions within the next
few days.
The statement accompanied H.R. 6407, the Postal Accountability and
Enhancement Act of 2006, which states, among other things, that First Class Mail
cannot be opened without a warrant. Postal regulations have long
prohibited the opening of First Class Mail without a warrant, according to the
ACLU. In 1996, the postal regulations were altered to permit the opening
of First Class Mail without a warrant in cases where the Postal Inspector
believes there is a credible threat that the package contains dangerous material
like bombs. In passing the new statute, Congress reiterated the express
prohibition in existing law against opening First Class Mail without a warrant.
The regulation authorizing an exception where there is a credible threat that a
package may contain a bomb still exists, but is quite narrow.
Romero said the Bush signing statement does not specify whether there are
special circumstances beyond those already established in the law that would
allow him to open mail without a warrant and if so, what they may be. For
example, the ACLU questioned whether the “exigent circumstances” would include
the singling out of mail addressed to or from people on government watch lists,
which are notoriously flawed. Such deliberate ambiguity, Romero said, “raises a
red flag because of President Bush’s history of asserting broad powers to spy on
Americans.”
Romero also noted that the signing statement was issued by President Bush
during the Congressional recess and a year after revelations that his
administration was claiming authority to secretly wiretap Americans without a
warrant.
The ACLU is currently challenging the Bush administration’s illegal
wiretapping program, which made international headlines when it was disclosed in
December 2005. Last August, in a landmark ruling, a federal district judge
in Detroit declared the program unconstitutional, saying “There are no
hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the
Constitution.” The Bush administration has appealed that ruling; a hearing
before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled for January 31. For
more information on that case, ACLU v. NSA, go to www.aclu.org/nsaspying
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