Don’t Torture the Constitution

The title is from a sign held up by those protestors during the appearance of Attorney General Gonzales at a Georgetown Law School Forum. Gonzales had earlier said on the Today Show that the standard under the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness, but check out what the text really says:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

It seems the FISA courts hold to the standard of probable cause and not a reasonable basis because they know how to read our Constitution. The lies of our Attorney General’s to this forum are numerous but read the AP story for yourself. I’d enjoy getting a link to this 42-page document:

Last week, Gonzales sent leaders of Congress a 42-page legal defense of warrantless eavesdropping which suggests that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is unconstitutional if it prevents the NSA’s warrantless eavesdropping.

FISA is unconstitutional because it did not grant George W. Bush the status of emperor? Now that’s a new Constitutional theory!