Legality of Wiretaps Remains in Question
"Bush said his decision was 'fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities.' And the president's lawyers have maintained that the commander in chief has the 'inherent' authority to act in the interest of national security, even if he overrides the law.
But the Supreme Court did not accept that claim when it was tested in the past.
In 1972, the justices unanimously rejected President Nixon's contention that he had the power to order wiretapping without a warrant to protect national security. The decision came in the case of three men who had allegedly plotted to bomb a CIA facility in Michigan. After the ruling, charges in the case were dismissed.
The 4th Amendment protects Americans from 'unreasonable searches and seizures' by the government, said then-Justice Lewis F. Powell, a Nixon appointee, delivering the court's ruling, and such freedoms 'cannot be properly guaranteed if domestic security surveillances are conducted solely within the discretion of the executive branch.'
He said Nixon's lawyer should have obtained a search warrant from a judge before the government tapped the telephones of the alleged plotters."
- posted by geoff @ #