District Judge Criticizes Warrantless Wire-Taps

Royce Lamberth, a district judge in Washington, said Saturday it was proper for executive branch agencies to conduct such surveillance, however the federal judge, who used to authorize wiretaps in terrorist and espionage cases, criticized President Bush's decision to order warrantless surveillance after the 9/11 attacks.^[1]

"What we have found in the history of our country is that you can't trust the executive.........We have to understand you can fight the war (on terrorism) and lose everything if you have no civil liberties left when you get through fighting the war," he told the American Library Association convention.^[2] He continued saying, "[t]he executive has to fight and win the war at all costs. But judges understand the war has to be fought, but it can't be at all costs.....We still have to preserve our civil liberties. Judges are the kinds of people you want to entrust that kind of judgment to more than the executive."^[3]

He was named chief of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) and served until 2002. The court meets secretly to review applications from security agencies for warrants to wiretap or search the homes of people in the U.S. in terrorist or espionage cases.^[4] Each application is signed by the attorney general, thus far the court has approved more than 99 percent of them.^[5]

Shortly after the 2001 attacks, Bush authorized the NSA to spy on calls between people in the U.S. and suspected terrorists abroad without FISA warrants, citing time constraints as the reason, and asserting that the president had authority to order warrantless domestic spying.^[6]

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^[1] Michael J. Sniffen, Judge: Bush wrong on warrantless spying, Associated Press Newswire, June 24, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.