November 1, 2005 4:58 PM PST
Nominee's past rulings give hint of tech views
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in surveillance technology would eviscerate the privacy principles found in the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of "unreasonable searches."
"Given the evolving sophistication of technology, it is increasingly imperative that the fundamental liberties guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment not be eroded by the warrantless use of devices that allow the government to see through curtains, walls and doors," McKee wrote. "To the extent the Fourth Amendment has any vitality in an era of increasingly sophisticated electronic eavesdropping, it surely protects the privacy of someone in the intimacy of a hotel suite from the potential of warrantless 24-hour video surveillance."
Hot-button cases
Judge Alito's Senate confirmation hearing likely will dwell on constitutional issues not related to technology. Those cases include:
• Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1991): Alito said precedent did not permit him to throw out a state law saying married women generally must notify their husbands before an abortion.
• Doe v. Groody (2004): A female officer searched a woman and her 10-year-old daughter in a methamphetamine raid, asking them to disrobe. Alito said the search warrant covered occupants and search was permissible.
• United States v. Rybar (1996): A federal law cited interstate commerce as justification for restricting machine guns. Alito argued that no evidence showed that private ownership affected such commerce and that Congress should not be able to restrict ownership along these lines.
On behalf of a 2-1 majority, Alito carefully avoided sweeping pronouncements of the potential omnipotence of futuristic spy gadgets. Instead, his logic was simple: because the informant consented to the recording, it could be used as evidence. His decision turned on the so-called one-party consent rule, "the well-established principle that a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in conversations with a person who consents to the recording of the conversations," Alito said.
In another case decided in 2002 by the 3rd Circuit Court, police in Pennsylvania acted on a six-month-old tip that a high school teacher was viewing illegal adult pornography on the Internet. They obtained a search warrant for the teacher's home and found child pornography on his computer's hard drive.
In an opinion written by Judge Maryanne Barry, another Clinton appointee, the 2-1 majority said the search warrant was invalid because the tip was "stale" and based on a dubious source. Also, they said, police had no probable cause to look for any kind of pornography, and investigators should not go on a fishing expedition through a suspect's hard drive just to find some sort of incriminating files.
Alito dissented. "The previously-noted incidents alleged in the affidavit showed that the defendant had a sexual interest in minors and that he had used sexual materials on several occasions as part of his course of conduct," he wrote. "All of this information tends to support a finding of probable cause."
Both cases symbolize the long-running clash of legal philosophies--individual rights pitted against police power--that has often found Alito siding with law enforcement. A former prosecutor, Alito worked for the Justice Department between 1977 and 1989.
Alito, however, has stopped short of giving law enforcement carte blanche. He seems, for instance, to be willing to let police officers be sued when they're accused of making an unprovoked violent attack during an arrest. In a 1995 case, Alito wrote that a trial judge should have let a jury make more decisions in a lawsuit that Harry Bodine filed against some Delaware State Troopers.
"If the troopers are found to have entered the Bodine residence illegally, they should be held liable for the harm proximately caused by the illegal entry," Alito wrote. "Similarly, if the troopers are found to have used unlawful force, they should be held liable for the harm proximately caused by this use of force."
On free speech topics, the First Amendment Center said in a report, Alito is "fairly strong." Alito wrote the opinion in a 2001 case that said a school's "anti-harassment" policy amounted to an unconstitutional speech code: "There is also no question that the free speech clause protects a wide variety of speech that listeners may consider deeply offensive."
That permissive attitude toward free speech could prove significant. A crucial case involving Internet pornography has already appeared before the Supreme Court once, and the issue is likely to return in the next year or two. In the aforementioned case, the court decided 5-4 to uphold an injunction barring prosecutors from enforcing the Child Online Protection Act.
Alito's views toward free speech seem to align him most closely with Justice Clarence Thomas, who broke from his conservative colleagues and sided with the ACLU and against the Justice Department in that lawsuit. Thomas also joined liberals on the court in striking down a law outlawing "morphed" child pornography and a law restricting anonymous speech.
CNET News.com's Alorie Gilbert contributed to this report.
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Here's a question for you: In the four abortion related cases, how many has he sided with the pro-choice side? 3. The other case involved a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking abortions to consult their husbands. Hardly a radical idea.
As far as being a worse choice than Miers, that is perposterous and ignorant. He is an accomplished jurist with a long record of reasoned decisions. He was approved by the senate not once, but twice (once for the US Attorney's job and once for his current position). He didn't receive a single "no" vote in his last confirmation in 1990.
of the President's rather than a choice based on sound objective
judgement, this candidate seems like he will be someone who
believes in strict interpretation of the law in a calm, focused, and
fair-minded manner. Hearing that he sides with common sense
against out-of-control copyright issues and stands for free
innovation in business makes me very excited.
At the time of this writing, my Email to Senator Mel Martinez (R-Florida) via Congress.org, dated 4/12/05, titled ?Microwave Surveillance from Commercial Satellites? is still posted on Google and Yahoo.
At the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee, Florida, a Teleconferencing Station centering around a Microwave Transceiver and Parabolic Microwave Transmission Dish is used to create an uplink to a Commercial Communication Satellite operating between 3.7 and 4.2 Gigahertz (GHZ), C-Band Communications.
The returning, downlink, signal is then demodulated allowing the sights and sounds of the targeted person?s environment to be presented on television and recorded.
Any television station with a mobile news van can duplicate the effects of Microwave Surveillance. Uplink to a Commercial Geostationary Satellite at C-Band Frequencies and you can conduct surveillance like the Professionals.
Microwave Surveillance from Commercial Satellites
1.0 Summary of Critical Points
1.1 Microwave Surveillance techniques have been in use for over fifty years.
1.2 As a result of the deployment of commercial communications satellites around the globe since the 1970?s Microwave Surveillance from space has been conducted by governmental agencies and corporate entities against unsuspecting citizens without any governmental oversight whatsoever.
1.3 The effects of human exposure to elevated levels of microwave radiation range from discomfort to death- an effect called Electronarcosis.
1.4 Sufficient information about Microwave Surveillance is available that any citizen or organization desiring an understanding of this technology and its effects will find public source documentation which covers most aspects of the technology?s use and abuse.
1.5 Reporting criminal misuse of Microwave Surveillance techniques is virtually impossible because of poor information transfer within the law enforcement community, lack of training on the part of law enforcement professionals, and, all too often, bad attitudes.
2.0 Statement of Problems to be Resolved
2.1 Would the United States Congress have the people that they are elected to serve believe that they are too busy to develop cognizance about Microwave Surveillance technology when a portion of each year?s federal budget is directed toward the acquisition of new equipment from this technology area? Solution- make the U.S. Congress aware of the problems and potentials associated with Microwave Surveillance.
2.2 Would the United States Department of Justice have the people that they are sworn to serve and protect believe that they are too busy to develop any sort of understanding about a technology which is documented in their own literature and deployed by Special Agents on their payroll? Solution- help the United States Department of Justice to gain a broader awareness of the problems and potentials associated with Microwave Surveillance.
2.3 With the incredible tracking capability of space-based Microwave Surveillance technology, why is Osa ben Laden still so elusive? Solution- start by solving problems 2.1 and 2.2.
3.0 Commercial Communications Satellites for Microwave Surveillance
(Copied verbatim from the World of Satellite TV, Ninth Edition, Chapter1 (pp. 9-18), by Mark Long, The Book Publishing Company, Summertown, Tennessee, July, 1998)
In October of 1945, a gifted science and science fiction writer proposed the extraordinary idea of using stationary satellites to beam television and other communications signals around the world. Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendevous with Rama, The Hammer of God, ect.) reasoned that if a satellite were positioned high enough above the Earth?s equator, its orbit could be matched by the rotation of the Earth. The satellite would then appear to be fixed in one particular spot in the sky. Because a satellite?s orbital speed varies with its distance from the Earth, a ?geostationary? orbit is only possible directly above the equator, in a narrow belt about 22,300 miles out. Although it took the technology a while to catch up with his simple but elegant concept, today there are hundreds of satellites taking advantage of his original thinking. In recognition of his pioneering vision, this band of outer space? real estate? is called the Clarke Orbit.
In 1965, the Early Bird satellite became the world?s first commercial geostationary satellite. It could carry 240 telephone communications circuits, or one television channel, at a time. On June 2, 1965, Early Bird introduced live television across the Atlantic Ocean. Early Bird was the first satellite to be owned and operated by the International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (INTELSAT).
First Canada, then the United States, and subsequently other countries constructed their own geostationary satellite systems. Each new satellite had greater capabilities, expanding our ideas of the technically possible. As of early 1998, there were more than 150 domestic and international communications satellites in geostationary orbit over the Earth?s equator.
3.1 Uplinks and Downlinks
Each satellite is both a receiver and a transmitter. First, the ground station, also called the uplink, sends a signal to the satellite. The satellite automatically changes the signals frequency and retransmits it back to stations on the ground. This second path is called the downlink. A satellite is much like a broadcasting tower 22,300 miles high, an automatic relay station that can transmit into a coverage area, which encompasses up to 42.4 percent of the Earth?s surface.
Each satellite has a number of redundant modules, spare components that can be switched into operation in the event that any malfunction occurs. Ground control stations can remotely switch in backup facilities in case of failure.
3.2 Satellite Transponders
Every communications satellite carries several channels, called transponders, which process communications traffic. Most satellites have sixteen or more transponders in operation, each capable of transmitting one or more television signals as well as thousands of simultaneous telephone conversations.
The satellite frequency ?bands? are located high above those used by earth-bound TV channels. Sunspots or other atmospheric conditions do not affect these super-high frequencies; satellites therefore, provide extremely reliable communications coverage 24 hours a day.
Operating at frequencies of several billion cycles per second, or Gigahertz (GHZ), the region?s satellites relay communications via two distinct communications bands. North America?s high-power services use frequencies ranging from 12.2 to 12.7 GHZ. A few operators using medium-power satellites use adjacent frequencies from 11.7 to 12.2 GHZ. The entire frequency spectrum from 10.7 to 12.75 GHZ is commonly called the ?Ku? band. Throughout the Americas, numerous other satellites are available that operate within a lower frequency spectrum ranging from 3.7 to 4.2 GHZ (the frequency of observed Microwave Surveillance operations). This frequency range is known as the ?C? band.
3.3 Footprints to Surveillance
The satellite?s transmission area covers a certain part of the Earth?s surface, called a footprint. An agency, such as the Florida Public Service Commission, with access to a satellite?s operating codes can ?commandeer? the services of one of the satellite?s transponders and conduct surveillance of a targeted individual and intercept all conversations and sounds within the surroundings of this individual.
Then-Senator, later Secretary of Defense, William S. Cohen makes reference to this capability in his book One-Eyed Kings.
(The National Security Agency is) charged with intercepting and interpreting signals intelligence, which ranges from radio and electronic signals emitted during Soviet and Chinese missile tests to conversations taking place in (the Soviet Premier?s) dacha, limousine, or bathroom. Satellites deep in space listen as if they were on an old-fashioned party line. (p.44)
A subsequent passage refers to GLOWWORM, which allows individuals to be tracked ?under ground, under water, anywhere?. This writer has three gold bridges, each of which is at least three centimeters long. So long as the wavelength of the transmitted signal is shorter than the targeted object, which in this case it is, the signal will bounce back to the sender like a radar image.
3.4 Surveillance to Terrorism
Building from the definition for ?radar?- radio for direction and ranging- the radio signal beamed as the downlink from a satellite transponder functions as radar picking up the much denser gold bridges. This writer?s travels have been followed from Toronto, Ontario down to San Juan, Puerto Rico and all points in between, including underground travel on the Metro subway system in Washington, D.C. and an American Airlines flight to Puerto Rico. GLOWWORM indeed!
Following are quotes taken from an Internet article written by Julianne McKinney, Director of the Electronic Surveillance Project of the Association of National Security Alumni, titled ?Microwaves and Mind Control?.
Externally induced auditory input could be achieved by means of pulsed microwave audiograms, or analogs of spoken word sounds. The effect on the receiving end is the (schizophrenic) sensation of ?hearing? voices which are no part of the recipients own thought processes.
Such a device has obvious applications in covert operations designed to drive a target crazy with ?voices?.
Tracking a target with a satellite-based communication signal, capturing the sounds in the targeted individuals environment, and terrorism via the transmission of ?voices? from the ground control station across 44,600 miles of space into the head of the targeted individual create a starting point for understanding the danger of covert Microwave Surveillance operations.
4.0 Electronarcosis and Signals Interception
One way that Electronarcosis effects are produced is through the raising of the temperature of the targeted individual. When water molecules are heated, the body temperature rises. Between 105 and 107 degrees Fahrenheit the targeted individual will experience a seizure- at 109 degrees, death occurs.
About a half a second after ?One?, I felt a warm spot on my back. A millisecond later the heat intensified dramatically, as though someone were pressing a burner on my back. I expected to hear sizzling, to smell burning flesh. The pain exploded to the point where I was no longer actually thinking, and I certainly wasn?t in any control of my reactions . . . I had lasted about two seconds.
The above quote is taken from ?Shoot to Not Kill?, Popular Science, 5/03. This passage describes the author?s reaction to being targeted by the Active Denial System, a HUMVEE configured with a microwave transceiver and a parabolic transmission dish on its roof. Transmitting at 98 Gigahertz (GHZ), the unit will beam a focused beam of microwave radiation used to disperse crowds. The same painful effect is felt by an individual targeted by a microwave satellite transmission generated in the range of 3.7 to 4.2 GHZ, C-Band satellite operations.
The other way that Electronarcosis works is through the disruption of brainwave functioning by overloading the electrochemical operation of the brain with a steady, elevated level of microwave radiation. A victim will experience disorientation, vertigo, and nausea. In preparing the magazine article ?Wonder Weapons?, Newsweek, July 7, 1997, pp. 38-46, written by Mr. Douglas Pasternak talked to more than 70 experts and scoured biomedical journals, contracts, budgets, and research proposals. Two segments below, taken from that article, echo the painful, debilitating effect that can be induced by a focused beam of microwave radiation.
Typical of some of the more exotic projects are those from Clay Easterly. Last December, Easterly- who works at the Health Sciences Research Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory- briefed the Marine Corps on work he has done for the National Institute of Justice, which does research on crime control. One of the projects he suggested was an electromagnetic gun that would induce ?epileptic-like seizures.? Another was a ?thermal gun? that would have the operational effect of heating the body 105 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Such effects would bring on discomfort, fevers, or even death.
Mission Research Corp. of Albuquerque, N.M., has used a computer to study the ability of microwaves to stimulate the body?s peripheral nervous system. ?If sufficient peripheral nerves fire, then the body shuts down to further stimulus, producing the so-called stun effect,? an abstract states.
Signals Interception of brain wave activity is one of the most fascinating and, interestingly, unmentioned characteristics of Microwave Surveillance operations. This ability to capture and record the images generated in the Visual Cortex and the sounds of a person?s inner dialogue has wonderful potential in the fields of Sleep Research, Psychotherapy, and Criminal Investigation. The measurement of brain waves, Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta, by Electroencephalography (EEG) is an accepted practice around the world. The capturing, on-screen presentation, and recording of mental images and dialogue intercepted by a focused beam of microwave radiation, even a beam bounced off a satellite 22,300 miles above the equator, is a capability whose broader introduction and use is retarded by a misshapen assessment of the security status of the United States of America and gross mismanagement of information. If the weak personalities at the Florida Public Service Commission can not only have cognizance but also criminally abuse this technology, why not let the rest of the world in on this once-secret technology. This will allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be publicly knowledgeable, enabling this writer to report, and ultimately see closed, a broad-based criminal conspiracy in the government of the State of Florida.
5.0 Microwave Surveillance and the Law
Information can be readily compiled from public sources and the provisions of USCA, Title 18, Chapter 119 allow government, through the authorization of a cognizant court, to utilize multiple avenues toward the assurance of an effective demonstration. Mr. Larry Fullerton of Huntsville, Alabama is developing equipment in this area and might serve as a source of expert testimony. Mr. Steve Paine of Illinois Valley Community College was involved with the development of Microwave Surveillance equipment when he worked for Hughes Electronics. Jane?s Defense Publications conducts seminars on this and other Non-Lethal (Variable Lethality) Technologies, which feature speakers from the Missouri State Police, U.S. Justice Department, and the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Tenth Judicial Circuit in Oregon has considered a comparable technology, FLIR or Forward Looking Infrared Radar. FLIR detects even the tiniest differences in temperature and enables its user to detect what is happening inside buildings, by more or less looking through the walls themselves. Some federal courts have ruled that government agents should be able to scan subjects without a warrant because all that is detected is ?waste heat.? The Tenth Circuit, however, has raised questions about the new technologies, including FLIR. The Court threw out a case in which agents had used FLIR to locate marijuana by detecting the heat of artificial lamps used to grow the plants.
To hold otherwise would leave the privacy of the home at the mercy of government?s ability to exploit technological advances: the government could always argue that an individual?s failure (or inability) to ward off the incursions of the latest scientific innovation forfeits the protection of the Fourth Amendment. The government would allow the privacy of the home to hinge upon the outcome of a technological measure/counter-measure between the average citizen and the government, a race, we expect, that the people would surely lose.
This decision was upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 decision. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority that the court could not cast away the Florence, OR, man?s Fourth Amendment protections against illegal searches to allow police to use ?sense-enhancing technology.? ?Any evidence obtained from the interior of someone?s home, which could not have been gathered legally by a physical intrusion, constitutes a search,? he wrote. ?That?s especially true,? he said, ?when the technology is not in general public use.?
Once the Court system is allowed to consider Microwave Surveillance, a comparable determination will undoubtedly follow.