Title: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: Chef Ramsay on January 21, 2015, 12:39:19 AM Quote State efforts to stop warrantless NSA spying are off to a fast start in the 2015 legislative session. Just two weeks into this year's legislative season, and with many legislatures not even in session yet, legislators in four states have already introduced bills to ban material support or resources to any federal agency engaged in warrantless spying. These bills not only support efforts to turn off NSA’s water in Utah, but would also have practical effects on federal surveillance programs if passed. Legislators in South Carolina, Missouri, Alaska and Indiana have all filed versions of the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, and representatives in seven other states have committed to introduce similar bills this year. Sources close to OffNow suggest even more bills will get introduced before the legislative season ends in spring. “To have four bills already filed, and commitments from seven more legislators - on top of having a bill in Utah set to move forward that would set the stage to turn of the water at the Bluffdale data center - this is really beyond our expectations this early in the session,” OffNow executive director Mike Maharrey said. “I think Americans are sick of being spied on, and they are sick of empty reform talk by D.C. politicians. I think this movement at the state level is indicative of the American people saying, 'Fine! If you can’t get things fixed in Washington, we’ll fix it through our states.'” Following model language drafted by OffNow, the Fourth Amendment Protection Act legislation supports actions in Utah and would have a practical effect in any state that passes it. More...http://www.offnow.org/four_counting_states_consider_bills_turn_off_resources_to_nsa (http://www.offnow.org/four_counting_states_consider_bills_turn_off_resources_to_nsa) Title: Re: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: Chef Ramsay on January 29, 2015, 04:08:40 AM NSA's Water, Power Supply Under Threat in State Legislatures
Quote Congress failed to agree last year on a measure that would reform the practice of mass government surveillance, but privacy-minded state legislators have a back-up plan for shutting down alleged violations of their constituents’ constitutional rights. In eight states, legislators are pushing bills they hope will either boot National Security Agency facilities or ban the agency from setting up shop. The bills would prohibit state and local governments from offering material support to the agency, including use of public utilities that carry water and electricity. Two of the bills would criminalize official cooperation with the NSA and several seek to squeeze contractors out of work with the electronic spy agency. The state-level push began months after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed in June 2013 the NSA’s bulk collection of U.S. phone records and Internet-mining programs. Last year, bills in Utah - home of the NSA’s massive Utah Data Center - and Maryland - host of the agency’s Fort Meade headquarters - sought to shut down those operations, winning broad media coverage. The Utah bill remains active and its sponsor, Republican state Rep. Marc Roberts, is cautiously optimistic about its chances, particularly after a seemingly receptive committee hearing in November. Roberts says colleagues he’s spoken with “have concerns with the NSA programs and violations of the Fourth Amendment.” But, he says, “when it comes down to a big vote on it like this I'm not sure [what] they will do.” Roberts is waiting to learn which legislative committee this year will hear his bill, which seeks to shut off the water supply to the NSA's vast Utah Data Center that's currently provided through a sweatheart deal with the city of Bluffdale. Legislators in Alaska, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington, meanwhile, introduced similar bills this month, many called Fourth Amendment protection acts, based on model legislation from the OffNow coalition. More are likely to be introduced as the legislative season unfolds. The bills generally say states and their political subdivisions cannot supply material support to federal agencies that collect citizens’ metadata without individualized warrants, and they intend to bar NSA-derived evidence from state courts and block the agency from research partnerships with state schools. In Washington, the proposed bill goes further. It would force companies to choose between NSA and state contracts. And if state contractors or officials do provide “material support, participation, or assistance in any form” to the NSA, they would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars. More...http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/28/nsas-water-power-supply-under-threat-in-state-legislatures (http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/28/nsas-water-power-supply-under-threat-in-state-legislatures) Title: Re: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: Balthazar on January 29, 2015, 06:52:09 AM Even in case of "turnong off" the legal ways to get resources there are still a lot of illegal options. Law doesn't matter while it could be broken without any appropriate responsibility...
Title: Re: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: jaysabi on January 29, 2015, 05:10:23 PM I would think any state law that makes it illegal to provide assistance to a federal agency would immediately be overturned. I'm in favor of stopping the NSA, but I also recognize that federal law trumps state, and all the federal officials who matter continue to justify the NSA programs as legal, even if a large portion of the population disagrees. I don't see how initiatives like this can possibly succeed.
Title: Re: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: (oYo) on January 29, 2015, 06:28:44 PM I would think any state law that makes it illegal to provide assistance to a federal agency would immediately be overturned. I'm in favor of stopping the NSA, but I also recognize that federal law trumps state, and all the federal officials who matter continue to justify the NSA programs as legal, even if a large portion of the population disagrees. I don't see how initiatives like this can possibly succeed. Of course these initiatives are futile. It's all just a game. The world is a stage. In the end nothing will change, but 'they' can say, "Hey, at least we tried." and the sheeple are appeased. Title: Re: Four and Counting: States Consider Bills to Turn off Resources to the NSA Post by: Troonetpt on January 30, 2015, 11:12:38 AM Sponsors and supporters make the list.Everyone has dirt,especially the loudest screamers.
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