June, 11 2013, 11:22am EDT
CREDO Mobile Endorses Sen. Merkley's Bill on FISA Court Opinions
WASHINGTON
Following the news that Senator Merkley introduced a bill today to make public FISA Court opinions so that the American people know how the secret court is interpreting the law, CREDO Mobile, a longtime defender of civil liberties, released the following statement endorsing Sen. Merkley's bill:
"A secret court can't provide adequate checks and balances to a presidential administration that has the capacity to engage in virtually unlimited surveillance when it comes to our phone calls and internet activity," said Becky Bond, Political Director of CREDO Mobile. "There should be no classified ruling by a secret court that provides broad new powers for the government to spy on its own citizens who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. CREDO Mobile proudly endorses Senator Merkley's bill to bring much needed transparency to a process shrouded in secrecy."
CREDO has a long history of working to protect civil liberties and has fought for reader privacy, supporting legislation by Sen. Bernie Sanders and working to repeal Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, including urging Attorney General Eric Holder to correct the public record on a classified interpretation of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act that allowed government agencies to collect personal information not linked to espionage or terrorism without a warrant.
CREDO also fought against unconstitutional changes to FISA that allowed warrantless wiretapping of Americans and granted telecom companies retroactive immunity for their warrantless wiretapping on Americans. CREDO is a long time and committed funder of civil liberties groups, including American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
CREDO Action, part of CREDO Mobile, is a social change network of over five million activists, sending tens of millions of petition signatures and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to decision-makers each year. CREDO Action members also participate in meetings, protests and other direct action for progressive change.
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