Time, and Location: 5:00 to 6:00 pm, Hulston Hall, Room 6, University of Missouri Campus

At the behest of the Bush Administration, Congress is debating a number of updates to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This long-standing law, passed in response to widespread abuses of executive power during the Nixon era, protects American citizens from being spied upon by the government. FISA strikes a balance between ensuring Americans’ rights to security in their communications and keeping our country safe from foreign threats.

One of the key characteristics of FISA is that it allows the government to engage in surveillance of suspected foreign threats, such as terrorists BEFORE seeking a court order.

The FISA court, the judicial body created to review government requests for permission to wiretap suspected threats, routinely granted such requests. The President would have us believe that this permissive system is not enough and that sweeping NEW powers should be granted to the Executive Branch to engage in spying upon American citizens.

This should be troubling to all Americans. Indications are that the government has already engaged in such activities, in violation of existing law. The Administration’s request would provide retroactive cover for these illegal acts. Furthermore, the President is demanding that Congress grant immunity to the telecommunications companies who handed over untold amounts of information about domestic communications at the government’s request. The Administration would have you believe that such immunity is warranted because these companies were simply doing their “patriotic duty.” Nevertheless, these same businesses cut off FBI wiretaps of suspected terrorist targets when the government failed to pay its bills on time.

What is most troubling of all is that the Senate has already passed a bill that gives the Administration everything it wants. Any chance to stop this assault on our civil liberties now lies in the House.In order that concerned citizens may better understand the proposed changes to FISA, the MU chapter of the American Constitution Society will host a panel discussion on the topic this Thursday, February 21 March 13, 2008 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm in Hulston Hall, Room 6.

The panel will consist of Christina Wells, Professor of Law at MU, whose studies have focused on free speech and government access; Charles Davis, Professor of Journalism at MU and the executive director for the National Freedom of Information Coalition; local attorney and civil rights advocate Dan Viets; and John Coffman, who lobbies for the American Civil Liberties Union in Jefferson City.

[Ed. Note : This event has been rescheduled for March 13th due to severe weather. Professor Davis has also been added to the panel]