Warrantless Phonetapping

[dimpy.handa]

Should electronic surveillance of American citizens by the US government only be permitted after court approval of a legal warrant? Or should we trust the government to exercise its powers to protect the United States in a time of threat?

As proved by the attacks on September 11, terrorists can do tremendous damage. If we are to protect ourselves in the future, we may have to abridge the privacy of many individuals, however innocent they may ultimately prove to be. Simply put, you can never know who is a terrorist until after his or her privacy has been violated or an attack has occurred. In addition, why should the innocent be afraid if they have nothing to hide?

 

[swatiraohnlu]

Britain is the only country in the developed world not to allow intercepts from telephones or e-mails to be admissible in court, even though they may contain clinching evidence of a defendant's guilt.

Supporters of the ban being lifted say there is nothing quite as powerful as a suspect being confronted with his own incriminating words.