It is "under the pressing exigencies of crisis that there is the greatest temptation to dispense with fundamental constitutional guarantees which, it is feared, will inhibit government action."

So stated United States District Judge Victor Marrero last week when he quoted a 1962 Supreme Court case in striking down the U.S. government's use of "National Security Letters" (NSLs) to force ISPs to give the FBI information about their subscribers. In essence, the court objected to the USA-PATRIOT Act's thesis that the enemy of the U.S. government was a bunch of old men in robes. No, not the Taliban; the federal judiciary.

By Mark Rasch at SecurityFocus.

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