Definition of ‘wrong’ may change

Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 26, 2005

Some people assert that people who have done nothing wrong should not fear government surveillance. It is important to keep in mind that once the government has the right to spy on citizens, the definition of “wrong” may change. Wresting from the government the abililty to fish unchecked will be much harder once it has become status-quo.

The Fourth Amendment was put in place for a reason, and the rubberstamping of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts is bad enough, having denied only four of 1,727 requests in 2003. At least in the FISA-related cases a court was involved; there is no such protection under the NSA wiretap order.

Jason Martin

Snohomish