Justice Scalia Says Judiciary Will Determine Legality of NSA Wiretaps --But He's Not Pleased About It
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said in remarks today that the judiciary will ultimately decide the legality of wiretapping by the National Security Agency, but that is not necessarily a good thing, the Associated Press reported. Further, Scalia said that the Supreme Court held in the 1920s that there was no constitutioanl bar to wiretaps "because conversations were not explicitly granted privacy protection under the Fourth Amendment, but then the Warren court recognized '“there’s a generalized right of privacy that comes from penumbras and emanations, blah blah blah, garbage,”' the AP reported. So, instead of the more democratic branches of government directly elected by the people deciding the issue, Scalia said that leaves the judiciary with that ultimatey responsibility, the AP reported.