The Associated Press reports that the FBI secretly sought information on 3500 people last year, through the use of "national security letters," otherwise known as warrentless searches. The letters, a form of subpoena issued without resort to court or notice to those whose secrets were being plumbed were served on banks, credit card issuers and telephone and internet service providers. The information did not include subscriber information, which the agency was not required to report.
In 1761, a Boston lawyer named James Otis gave up a secure position as the king's advocate general to go into the Admiralty Court and argue that writs of assistance--warrants that did not describe the places to be searched or the materials sought--violated the "rights of Englishmen." John Adams, who was in the court that day, called Otis' speech the first shot of the American Revolution.
Time to repeat history?
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