Do you think that it is right for the government to be allowed to listen in on peoples telephone calls????????

Question

I feel that it is very nosey to do that the government is doing this. Do think there should be an amendment against this???

Answer 1

before 9-11 no...after 9-11 yes

Answer 2

Not without a warrant and meaningful judicial review. And to all the people who have answered that it's ok, since you aren't "doing anything wrong," you are the kind of people that make it worse for everybody else. nobody DOES anything on the phone. at worst, they TALK about doing something illegal. that, in itself, should NOT be monitored, unless there is PROBABLE CAUSE to believe that a real crime is underway, AND the monitoring agency has to get a warrant. In emergencies, law enforcment should perhaps be able to listen in, and then THE NEXT DAY, have to go to get the warrant, and explain to the judge what the emergency was.

even the above described protections are not perfect, since, for example, the judge might be corrupt, but it's all we have, so could you all please stop being spineless?

Answer 3

If the government didn't go through the process of getting a warrent (convincing a judge they had probable cause to suspect you of wrongdoing) I would consider that an unreasonable search which is addressed by the Fourth Amendment.

Answer 4

i know someone who works for the government. they are an intel analyst and look through phone records, emails, etc. BUT they are NOT ALLOWED to look at american telephone conversations or emails. if they accidently do, they could get sued. even if bin laden was in american placing a international call, the government would no be allowed to use that as evidence against him because it is an american line the call was coming from and it is illegal for the government to look at that.

Answer 5

They need a darn good reason.

I think that when they monitor international calls that go to telephone numbers that belong to known terrorists, that is a darn good reason. Just as a warrant is needed for a wire tap, a warrant is required for this monitoring as well.

This type of monitoring stops terrorist attacks, saving hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. Most recently, the situation in Britain with two dozen terrorists planning to blow up planes.

What would you do to save human lives? I think that listening in on phone calls is worth it to save human lives.

Answer 6

No, president bush is te rrorizing the american people into thinking that they are in danger...this is all political B.S. He hides behind this to take away our rights one at a time...pretty soon they will be installing listening devices on our person...F the government. F bush...F them a lot...

Answer 7

well, it depends largely on the circumstances.
if there's some kind of a national calamity going on - say a war or an insurgent attck - then the government could have a good reason to tap phone lines.
But if they're just doing it for no reason (Saddam Hussain used to tap phones to make sure no one insulted him), then its definitely wrong

Answer 8

Yes. In the present climate intelligence agencies need every option to be available. However given their very obvious lack of intelligence I could have lots of fun screwing their heads up.

Answer 9

In a way it is good and in a way it is not good. There are two sides to everything and if we as Americans want the gov't to do it's job and protect us then we have to put up with certain things.

Answer 10

they are not doing it because they can't find nothing else to do with their time. they are doing it for security reasons and i always want to be safe than sorry. besides, if i decide to have phone sex or a private conversation, i doubt if bush will get on the television and expose my dirty little secrets.