Matt Collins
Member

The Last Battle in the War on Cash

Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Legislation to Restore and Protect Americans' Fourth Amendment Rights WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act. The bill would ensure Americans cannot be subjected to government surveillance upon the order of the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) or Executive Order 12333. While national security requires the ability to gather intelligence on foreign threats, using those authorities to conduct warrantless spying on Americans is an impermissible violation of the rights guaranteed to us by the Fourth Amendment. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted to protect the rights of Americans against the surveillance abuses documented by the Church and Pike Committees. Yet, events over the course of the last several years demonstrate that FISA has failed to prevent a recurrence of abuses that violate constitutionally protected rights. In fact, FISA's secretive and one-sided process invites the kind of abuse the law was intended to combat. This abuse is almost never remedied because, unlike the open and adversarial process afforded by Article III courts, FISA denies defendants the ability to effectively challenge the validity of surveillance warrants. Dr. Paul's legislation is a necessary remedy to this dangerously flawed process. "No secret, unaccountable court should be allowed to authorize spying on American citizens," said Dr. Paul. "My Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act would exempt Americans from the FISA process and ensure both constitutional rights and national security are protected." Specifically, the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act would: