Like The Snuggie...BUT 1/2 The Price...
http://pd.gophercentral.com/u/2449/c/186/a/3289
------------------------------------------------------------
THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - March 1, 2010
Cell Phone Tracking: The New Constitutional Crisis
by: William Fisher
truthout|Report
If you own a cell phone, you should care about the outcome
of a court case that "could well decide whether the govern-
ment can use your cell phone to track you - even if it
hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up
evidence of a crime."
That was the warning issued to the public by several major
civil liberties organizations as they appeared in federal
court in Philadelphia to argue for more privacy protections
in the use of cell phones as tracking devices by law
enforcement agents.
The case is at the heart of the constitutional crisis now
being played out in the US federal court. Civil liberties
groups are asking the court to require that the government
show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.
The groups are the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF),
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of
Pennsylvania, and the Center for Democracy and Technology
(CDT).
Back in 2007, the US government applied for court
permission to obtain information about the location of an
individual's cell phone, without showing probable cause
that tracking the individual would turn up evidence of a
crime. A magistrate judge denied the government's request
and a district court upheld that decision in September
2008. The government is appealing the ruling in the US
Court of Appeals.
A number of civil liberties groups, on behalf of plaintiffs
in the case, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support
of the district court decision, arguing that district
courts must require the government to show probable cause
before permitting the government to obtain information
about the location of a cell phone.
------------------------------------------------------------
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR PILLS
Normal Price: $9.99
DEAL PRICE: $2.99 per bottle
The #1 ALL NATURAL Diet Product For The Last 50 Years
WILL Help YOU Lose Weight....
The best-selling and most proven All Natural diet aid
available. For the last 50 years hundreds of thousands
of people have successfully lost weight with Apple Cider
Vinegar....
Now you can get this Amazing supplement in an easy and
convenient tablet form. No more bad tasting liquids. And
it's even more concentrated in the tablet form. Plus, it
is guaranteed to work for you. If you don't lose the
weight you want with Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar just
return it for a refund. It's JUST $2.99 for 60 Tablets.
Visit: http://pd.gophercentral.com/u/1200/c/120/a/3289=
------------------------------------------------------------
The appeals court will decide whether government agencies
in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware must show probable
cause before tracking people's cell phone locations.
EFF explains that, although most people don't realize it,
cell phones double as tracking devices. "Newer phones
contain GPS chips, the same technology that allows car
navigation systems to know where you are and give you
driving directions. But even older phones that don't have
chips can be tracked by knowing the location of the cell
towers they use to connect to a network," the group said,
adding, "There's no question that cell phones and cell-
phone records can be useful for police officers who need
to track the movements of those they believe to be break-
ing the law. And it is important for law enforcement
agents to have the tools they need to stop crimes. However,
it is just as important to make sure such tools are used
responsibly, in a manner that safeguards our personal
privacy."
And Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of
Illinois law school told us, "This practice violates the
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution: 'no
Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported
by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched....' The Bush administration reduced
the Fourth Amendment to nothing more than a Potemkin
Village of rights. It exists on paper alone. And a
pusillanimous Congress has gone along with shredding the
entirety of the US Bill of Rights."
He added, "President Obama, the former constitutional
law professor, is actively defending in court every
hideous atrocity that the Bush administration inflicted
upon the Bill of Rights, civil rights, civil liberties,
human rights, international law and the United States
Constitution with the acquiescence and/or approval of
Congress."
This issue gained national attention during last year's
gubernatorial race in New Jersey. Documents turned over
in EFF's lawsuit revealed that "the US Attorney's Office
- under Chris Christie, now the governor - was tracking
cell phones without probable cause, in violation of a
Justice Department recommendation," EFF said.
The decision reached by the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit
US Court of Appeals will not only bind federal courts
throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. It will
also be a key source of guidance to courts around the
country as they grapple with this issue.
The plaintiffs in the court case hope the court will "send
a message that merely carrying a cell phone should not
make people more susceptible to government surveillance."
They add, "No one wants to feel as if a government agent is
following her wherever she goes - be it a friend's house,
a place of worship, or a therapist's office - and innocent
Americans shouldn't have to feel that way."
------------------------------------------------------------
Coffee Break Incense Gift Set
A Must For Coffee Lovers...
List Price: $9.99
Big Lots Price: $5.00
DEAL PRICE: $2.99
Get Two Kits for $4.98
Drench yourself in the wonderful aroma of coffee with one
of these newest incense creations. This fabulous array of
assorted coffee scents includes: Cafe Au Lait, Espresso,
Coffee Bean and Cappuccino. Each gift set comes with its
own 3" x 3.5" holder.
GIFT SET INCLUDES:
- One Incense Holder
- 10 Incense Cones: Cafe Au Lait
- 10 Incense Cones: Espresso
- 20 Incense Sticks: Coffee Bean
- 20 Incense Sticks: Cappuccino
Get one for $2.99 or grab two sets, one for you and one
for a gift, for $4.98.
VISIT: http://pd.gophercentral.com/u/14494/c/120/a/%%merge lists_.nalt3_%=
%
------------------------------------------------------------
The government has argued that "One who does not wish to
disclose his movements to the government need not use a
cellular telephone." But the civil liberties groups say
this is "a startling and dismaying statement coming from
the United States. The government is supposed to care about
people's privacy. It should not be forcing the nation's
277 million cell-phone subscribers to choose between risk-
ing being tracked and going without an essential communi-
cations tool."
The case has drawn considerable national attention. One of
the country's foremost investigative journalists, Michael
Isikoff of Newsweek, addressed the issue in a recent
edition of the magazine.
He wrote, "Law enforcement is tracking Americans' cell
phones in real time - without the benefit of a warrant.
Amid all the furor over the Bush administration's warrant-
less wiretapping program a few years ago, a mini-revolt
was brewing over another type of federal snooping that
was getting no public attention at all.
"Federal prosecutors were seeking what seemed to be
unusually sensitive records: internal data from tele-
communications companies that showed the locations of
their customers' cell phones - sometimes in real time,
sometimes after the fact. The prosecutors said they
needed the records to trace the movements of suspected
drug traffickers, human smugglers, even corrupt public
officials. But many federal magistrates - whose job is
to sign off on search warrants and handle other routine
court duties - were spooked by the requests. Some in New
York, Pennsylvania and Texas balked," he wrote.
"Prosecutors 'were using the cell phone as a surreptitious
tracking device," said Stephen W. Smith, a federal
magistrate in Houston. "And I started asking the US
Attorney's Office, 'What is the legal authority for this?
What is the legal standard for getting this information?'
Those questions are now at the core of a constitutional
clash between President Obama's Justice Department and
civil libertarians alarmed by what they see as the
government's relentless intrusion into the private lives
of citizens."
Two years ago, a US magistrate in Pittsburgh ruled that
the data they were seeking could easily be misused to
collect information about sexual liaisons and other
matters of an "extremely personal" nature.
In federal appeals court last week, a Justice Department
lawyer urged the judges to overturn the magistrate's
ruling. They claimed the government was seeking "routine
business records."
But after one of the judges said there were some govern-
ments, like Iran's, that would like to use such records
to identify political protesters, she asked whether the
"government can assure us" that the Justice Department
would never collect cell-phone data for this kind of use
in the US.
The government lawyer grudgingly acknowledged that such
data "could be used constitutionally."
------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR VIDEO SNACK BAR
Top Viewed Videos...
1. Marine Silent Marching
http://c.gophercentral.com/rO13
2. Man's Best Friend
http://c.gophercentral.com/2TYQ
3. Celebrities: Before and After Make-Up
http://c.gophercentral.com/49A3
4. Amos N´ Andy - In the IRS Office
http://c.gophercentral.com/iZUQ
5. The Muppets
http://c.gophercentral.com/sVqB
6. The Stones
http://c.gophercentral.com/XLr8
------------------------------------------------------------
ARCHIVES: http://progressivereview.gophercentral.com
Follow Your Favorite GopherCentral Publications on Twitter:
http://www.gophertweets.com/ More Coming Soon!
------------------------------------------------------------