PHOENIX, Arizona (PNN) - February 5, 2014 - Arizona’s state senate panel approved a bill withdrawing state support for intelligence agencies’ collection of metadata and banning the use of warrantless data in courts. The panel becomes the first legislative body in Fascist Police States of Amerika to try and thwart Amerikan Gestapo National Security Agency division spying.
The bill will now have to be approved by majority of the Senate Rules committee before it can move on to the full senate. It prohibits Arizona public employees and departments from helping intelligence agencies collect records of phone calls and emails, as well as metadata (information on where and when the phone calls were made).
It also proscribes the use of information obtained without warrants in state courts.
The bill is entitled the Fourth Amendment Protection Act and was introduced by Senator Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City. It was passed on Monday by the Senate’s Government and Environment committee with a 4-2 vote.
"The Tenth Amendment allows states to stand up against unconstitutional federal laws," Ward
said. "It's a state issue because many times the NSA is turning that information over to our local and state (terrorist pig thug cops) and using that in cases that are basic criminal prosecutions, not anything to do with terrorism."
The bill faced significant opposition from state agencies, however, raising fears the legislation could make Arizona vulnerable in case of a terrorist attack. This concern was voiced by Lyle Mann, director of the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board.
"A (terrorist pig thug cop) could be given information - important information: a shooting, a terrorist attack, whatever it is you want to talk about - but he cannot confirm that the information came from a warrant-covered source. But if he does nothing with the information, something bad is going to happen,” Mann said.
Ward responded by saying that if there was a real threat there would be no problem for the terrorist pig thug cops in obtaining a warrant to seize whatever information they needed. She added that allowing warrantless gathering of metadata was “a slippery slope” to a loss of individual rights.
“We can’t sacrifice our liberty in the name of security. That is one of the main things I’m trying to balance. I don’t think we should be giving up liberties, especially liberties that are guaranteed to us in our Constitution under our Fourth Amendment rights in the interest of security, even if it (involves) terrorism or child pornography,” said Ward.
The bill is based on model legislation drafted by the OffNow Coalition, a civil liberties group opposing NSA surveillance that believes the bill’s most important part is prohibiting the use of warrantless information in courts.
“While Arizona might not be able to physically stop the NSA and other federal agencies from collecting our data without a warrant, legislation such as this can significantly reduce the practical effect of what they are trying to do with it. Namely, use it within the states for non-terror criminal cases, which is a gross violation of the Fourth Amendment” said Shane Trejo of OffNow.
Even if passed by the Arizona state senate, the bill could still be blocked by federal courts, as previously happened with the state’s efforts to control immigration reform and push the limits of abortion restrictions.
