Monday, December 17, 2007

Fact-checking the FISA debate.

Sen. Russ Feingold’s office has put out a fact sheet on the Dodd-Feingold amendment to strike retroactive immunity. One common myth:

Myth: The bill’s provision is necessary to extend immunity to telephone companies that responded in good faith to a government request.

Reality: Existing law already immunizes telephone companies that respond in good faith to a government request, as long as that request meets certain clearly spelled-out statutory requirements. This carefully designed provision protects the companies and Americans’ privacy by encouraging the companies to comply with legitimate requests but not to comply with requests that don’t meet the requirements laid out in the law.

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