On Monday, an Arizona state Senate committee became the first legislature in the U.S. to pass a bill designed to thwart unconstitutional surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Senate Bill 1156, the Arizona Fourth Amendment Protection Act, was introduced by Senator Kelli Ward and 14 other sponsors and co-sponsors. The bill, based on legislation drafted by the OffNow Coalition, would ban Arizona from “engaging in activities that help the NSA carry out its warrantless data-collection programs, or from making use of the information on a local level.”
Senator Ward said her goal “is to protect liberty and the Constitution.” Rephrasing Benjamin Franklin, Senator Ward stated, “We cannot sacrifice liberty for security.”
Although the bill passed by a vote of 4-2, there was a lengthy debate with “significant opposition from some state agencies.” The Tenth Amendment Center reported that “representatives of several state agencies testified in the hearing as ‘neutral with concerns,’ generally suggesting they would oppose the bill without changes. A law enforcement spokesman, plus representatives from the departments of environmental quality, housing, revenue, public safety and health services were all concerned that they would not be able to share any information with federal agencies, rendering their programs virtually out of business.”
Senator Ward “worked to allay their fears by reading a portion of SB1156 making it clear that participation in various programs was not the target of the bill’s prohibition, but only the use of electronic data and metadata obtained without a warrant in criminal proceedings.”
She went on to challenge some of the department heads by asking, “That information you are talking about is given to you voluntarily, correct? You’re not stealing information from the people and giving it to the federal government are you?
In an attempt to clarify what the bill is about, Tenth Amendment Center National Communications Director Mike Maharrey said, “We know from a Reuters report that the federal government shares unconstitutionally gathered data with state and local law enforcement. We know that the vast majority of it has nothing to do with national security. This bill would make this illegally gathered data inadmissible in court. It has nothing to do with the state sharing legally gathered data with the federal government.”
Last year, Reuters reported the NSA shares data with both state and local law enforcement agencies through a secret group known as the Special Operation Division. And both the Washington Post and USA Today also reported that “the FBI and most other investigative bodies in the federal government are regularly using a mobile device known as a ‘stingray’ to intercept and collect electronic data without a warrant. Local and state police ‘have access through sharing agreements.’”
While Arizona and other states may not be able to stop the NSA or other governmental agencies from gathering data without a warrant, Senator Ward believes “prohibiting the use of data collected without a warrant in state and local courts will have the most immediate and far-reaching impact.”
Senator Kelli Ward (R, AZ) joins Amerika Now during the third hour of the show this Saturday to discuss the Arizona Fourth Amendment Protection Act and its possible implications.
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