Building Bridges where none existed before: TAC flies blimp over NSA Data Center in Utah

I like building bridges – especially where most people think they can’t exist. Case in point. This morning, TAC partnered with Greenpeace and Electronic Frontier Foundation to fly a blimp directly over the NSA data center in Utah. It had a sign on it and an arrow pointing down – “illegal spying below!” The goal?…

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Senators Fall Short with Federal Plan to Stop NSA Spying

Three leading anti-NSA senators, Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Udall (D-CO) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), recently penned an op/ed in the Los Angeles Times talking about the need for bipartisan reform to save the 4th Amendment and rein in government surveillance. They correctly identify the problems, but their solutions leave much to be desired. In their…

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California committee cites 10th Amendment in passage of bill banning assistance to NSA

SACRAMENTO, June 24, 2014 – Citing the 10th Amendment and support from the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC), the California Assembly Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to approve a bipartisan bill which creates a mechanism to turn off all material support and assistance, including water and electricity resources, from California to federal mass surveillance programs. The vote…

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Missouri ballot measure would protect electronic data from government spying

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In August, Missouri voters will have an opportunity to reject significant parts of mass surveillance programs by both the state and federal governments. Introduced by Sen. Rob Schaaf, Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR27) passed the legislature last month with just a handful of dissenting votes. Because it is a proposal for…

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US Intelligence Agencies Operate Outside the Law

When it comes to its national intelligence community, the federal government has a major accountability problem. Agencies like the NSA and the CIA operate outside of constitutional bounds with little to no actual oversight. Trust in the Government Many perceive that every law Congress passes is constitutional. But Congress passes numerous laws despite James Madison’s…

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Federal Marshals Seize Florida Police Cellphone Tracking Records

Federal marshals recently seized a local police agency’s records on cell phone surveillance to keep it from public disclosure, demonstrating the importance of prohibiting dragnet surveillance at the state level. Sarasota, Fla. police were apparently secretly tracking individuals’ cell phones without a warrant using a device called a Stingray, according to the ACLU. “Stingrays track…

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Another NSA Court Decision Makes Mockery of the 4th Amendment

The federal government has once again failed to appropriately regulate its own behavior, with an Idaho federal judge ruling in favor of the constitutionality of the NSA’s spying program. According to a report from the Idaho Spokesman, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill, in his eight-page decision issued [on June 3], found that under current U.S.…

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Ron Paul: ‘Get Rid Of the NSA’

Ron Paul, speaking with Neil Cavuto on Fox Business last week, says that the recently revealed mass interception, storage, and analysis of images contained in private electronic communications is “another reason to get rid of the NSA.” Paul says limited reform of the National Security Agency is insufficient. Instead, Paul explains that the correct course is abolishing the agency…

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California Action Alert: Support SB828 to help Nullify NSA Spying!

In California, an important bill (SB828) would create a mechanism to turn off all material support and assistance, including water and electricity resources, to the NSA from the state of California. It passed in the state senate by a 29-1 margin, and is now in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety. It will need to pass through…

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