Officials monitor thousands of letters without warrants

Officials monitor thousands of letters without warrants

rawstory.com

The US postal service approves more than 10,000 requests from US law enforcement each year to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of packages, according to information released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

"...When you realize that (the figure) does not include national security matters, the numbers are even more alarming."

(visit the link for the full news article)


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www.msnbc.msn.com
www.chicagotribune.com

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The warrantless surveillance mail program -- as it is known -- requires only the approval of the US Postal Inspection Service Director, and not a judge.

Tap the phones, tap the mail. More cameras, more microUAV's. More military armed police, more CIA drug running. I mean really. Just go ahead and die.

What's the point anymore?

A lot of pro-tyranny people love to ask "How has your life changed one bit since enacting of all these liberty-curtailing laws?" That's a great question for Alex Jones. I suggest you ask him.

I can't even have a genuine friend from any middle eastern Muslim country now for fear of being spied on. And I met a few decent people from that descent in my travels years ago. Not that I've kept in touch, but what if I had? I don't see how any Muslim in the US today could feel even remotely comfortable living here.

From 2006:

Last month Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words “by Border Protection” and carrying the official Homeland Security seal.

“I had no idea (Homeland Security) would open personal letters,” Goodman told MSNBC.com in a phone interview. “That’s why I alerted the media. I thought it should be known publicly that this is going on,” he said. Goodman originally showed the letter to his own local newspaper, the Kansas-based Lawrence Journal-World.

Yup, just as long as you're not doing anything wrong, let them invade your life all the way into the bathroom. Maybe when they insist you bend over too, someone will do finally something about it.

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I had no idea this was happening either. I am so ticked. I wish I could say it was unbelievable but it's sadly status quo. What is unbelievable, however, is that no one on ATS has chimed in on this thread. This is one of the most important threads on the board right now.

Starred and Flagged.

Since 9/11 neither me nor husband have never had our bags hand-inspected by the TSA but this time when he flew he did. They put a little card in the suitcase saying it had been checked. Does the fact that my husband's bag got checked mean that he is on some watch list somewhere? He did not fly out of the country and he is American, born and bred.

It's frightening because what would prevent them from planting contraband in there if they inspect it out of sight of the traveler? It would be his word against the Federal Gov't. He would lose. I wonder about the idea of unreasonable search and seizure. What happened to that concept? This has got to stop.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
It's frightening because what would prevent them from planting contraband in there if they inspect it out of sight of the traveler? It would be his word against the Federal Gov't. He would lose. I wonder about the idea of unreasonable search and seizure. What happened to that concept? This has got to stop.

The answer is nothing. And you can bet that is going to get done too in some cases, especially in the drug running circles. Didn't we just have a video showing a cop planting evidence on a defendant?

Yeah, it's important, but only to those who want to listen. At least I get to say "Hey, told you so," when the SHTF. It's not just the potential for abuse that the system poses, it's the ACTUAL abuse they have shown of it that is worse.

i can think of no answer other than the establishment is purposfully trying to destroy itself and its country.

[edit on 6-3-2008 by welivefortheson]

What ever happened to Give me Liberty or give me Death?


I'm glad my permanent visa to Canada is almost approved.

I can't wait to get the heck out of this self destructive society.

Andrew Jackson did the same thing back in the day when he thought certain correspondence and pamphlets were going to incite an uprising of states against the fed. He had postal carriers burning letters in the streets to keep them from reaching their destinations.

The fed's just a little smarter now. Rather than burn them they get cataloged, studied and held as evidence in the new propaganda laded "info" war against the citizenry. Things were much simpler when the fed just burned them in the street.

You think this is bad, and it is, wait until they do away with cash. They are already watching deposits and withdrawals of 5000$ or more. All thanks to war on drugs and the war on terror. It won't be long until they destroy the dollar and implement a cashless society.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

If anyone read my mail on a regular basis, they'd probably be bored senseless. Serves them right. If it's a federal offense that is being investigated, I think they should have to get a warrant, just as they would if they wanted to search your house. At present it looks like any little official at any level can read your mail if they want to. No wonder there's so much identity theft. There is almost nothing private anymore. This is definitely a matter to write your congressman about.

Starred and flagged.

The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.

www.whitehouse.gov...

Just another testament to the tyranny that is coming upon us. All they have to do is justify it with the words, "national security" I guess?

[edit on 6/3/08 by an3rkist]

reply to post by an3rkist


Here is what I don't understand: How can an Executive order circumvent civil rights during peace time? Where is the ACLU? How is this not unreasonable search and seizure? Where is probable cause?

I'm not being rhetorical or obtuse. I really want to know why this has not been challenged. Will some genius ATS member explain it to me?

[edit on 6/3/08 by kosmicjack]

reply to post by kosmicjack


According to the OP's link, "the ACLU and Center for National Security Studies filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information regarding any additional warrantless mail surveillance."


In January of 2007 Maine Congressman Tom Allen wrote the following letter:

January 5, 2007

The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Waxman:

I am writing to express my concern about statements made by President Bush in conjunction with the signing of H.R. 6407, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

As you know, President Bush has issued a signing statement indicating that he will construe subsection 404(c) of Title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, to allow the executive branch to conduct searches of domestic postal mail without a warrant in “exigent circumstances.” Legal experts have already speculated that ongoing threats to national security may meet this broad criteria. The President seems to claim the power to open an unlimited amount of mail sent by Americans to Americans.

I am concerned not only by the possible loss of privacy for American citizens, but also by the ongoing efforts of the Administration to erode basic civil liberties by executive fiat. Electronic communications, phone calls, and now physical mail have been targeted by the Administration for intelligence collection. As was the case with warrantless domestic wiretapping, the President is attempting to seize a power not allowed by law or justified by the circumstances of the threat to public safety. There is no credible reason to circumvent a judicial process for searching postal mail.

The inconsistency of the President’s policy with the clear language passed by Congress, which specifically reinforced the sacrosanct privacy of mail except under the authority of a lawfully obtained search warrant, is troubling. Therefore, I urge you to investigate the intent and context of this statement so Americans may be certain that their postal mail remains private.


Sincerely,



Tom Allen
Member of Congress

Source

I don't know what came of it. Apparently nothing.

[edit on 6/3/08 by an3rkist]

I figured out a long time ago not to write return addresses on my mail.

One time I went to the counter at a post office and asked where my mail was. She checked in the back and said it wasn't there. I said to check again.

She went checked again, argued with some guy that "they said not to give it to him", and then I got my mail.

Oh, yeah... and in case you didn't know, I get chased by aliens and time travelers and crazy stuff, not the US government. And they have like a crazy psychic in my head that does wacky stuff 24/7 with my... oh, jeez, you get the picture!

So, yeah, I'm afraid that the government will grab my mail. But I must admit that if its aliens, then it may not be the "US government" that I'm talking about when I say "the government".

Almost all convenient stores are owned or run by a muslem or someone from that part of the world. We are all terrorists as far as they are concerned because we talk to them when we buy from them.

reply to post by rtcctr


Perhaps I've been misinformed, but I've been told that the people you speak of get special loans, sometimes interest free, from our government, to start those businesses. (I was told this by a man from...I believe Yugoslavia. He had gotten a loan from the government to buy a truck and start a truck-driving business. I had asked him, somewhat reluctantly, why all the guys who came through the plant with their own trucks didn't speak English, and that was his answer.) Seems ironic to me that the government would give loans, (or maybe just subsidize them), for people who they are suspicious of.

It seems to me that this mail thing is directed at Americans corresponding with Americans as much as with foreigners. I don't think that buying a slurpee from your local Kwik-E-Mart is making them check your mail as much as you visiting this site is.

[edit on 6/3/08 by an3rkist]

Here is what I don't understand: How can an Executive order circumvent civil rights during peace time? Where is the ACLU? How is this not unreasonable search and seizure? Where is probable cause?

It's sad to say but I believe that the onus is on "We the People".Why do people have to rely on a group to protect them?I'm still waiting for the day when people,one by one,start making a fuss.
We already know that your Congressman/local official/Senator etc. doesn't listen.
In my opinion,this is why your rights are being eroded daily.I read this about a year ago and wondered why it wasn't in the headlines.
Bush is killing your country.

reply to post by kosmicjack

Here is what I don't understand: How can an Executive order circumvent civil rights during peace time? Where is the ACLU? How is this not unreasonable search and seizure? Where is probable cause?

I'm not being rhetorical or obtuse. I really want to know why this has not been challenged. Will some genius ATS member explain it to me?

Please, allow me. The U.S. Constitution has been suspended since 1933. All forms of government, as well a sovereign American persons, are now held in receivership as default payment on the bankruptcy of the nation in that year.

That's correct, we are all now owned as private property. We are no longer entitled to the the inalienable rights of the Constitution, but the privileges defined under statutory public policy.

Our court system no longer operates under the authority of the constitution, but under military authority, as designated by the gold fringed national banner displayed in our courtrooms, as per military code. Furthermore, all officers of the court are sworn members of the private entity known as the BAR association, to whom their allegiance is preeminent.

reply to post by jackinthebox


I understand what you're saying, and believe it to some extent. But if that's true, then why does the government have to even go through with putting these things into law? Why do they bother making it alright on paper for them to trample on our rights? Just to keep us from uprising?

[edit on 6/3/08 by an3rkist]

reply to post by an3rkist

Just to keep us from uprising?

Bingo.

The same reason they feel the need to "interpret" the meaning of the Constitution to mean exactly the opposite of what is stated explictly, when in reality they are not "interpreting" anything. They are merely putting in place a statutory ruling. If they were interpreting the Constitution, there would be a Constitutional Amendment.



[edit on 3/6/0808 by jackinthebox]