Feinstein supports immunity for telcoms' spying

Oh, what a surprise! Dianne Feinstein again!

Feinstein has been somewhere on the right wing of Senate Democrats at least since Jim Exxon's CDA and the associated wave of right-wing Internet censorship (although the CDA was tossed out). So can we really be too shocked that Feinstein has come out in favor of granting retroactive immunity to telcom corporations that illegally shared customers' phone and e-mail conversations with the government? Yes, we can and should be shocked by it, because up until very recently this idea was considered so far beyond the pale.

Feinstein also supported a statement by Jay Rockefeller that said telcom firms that were wrongly told by Bush regime officials that the surveillance program was legal shouldn't be sued for participating in it. Um. Uh. Ever hear that saying about how ignorance of the law is no excuse? This is a legal doctrine that goes back several millennia. Doesn't it apply in this case?

Can I go and break a bunch of laws too? I mean, the government will just grant me immunity later, right? What, it won't??? Damn!

How can the Senate even be considering granting immunity to phone companies or extending Bush's wiretap program (both of which it's considering doing)? This is just so far outside the mainstream that it's not even funny.

If the immunity proposal becomes law, judges would be forced to toss out lawsuits against companies that conspired with Bush's spying. Worse, lawyers who represent the customers will be excluded from the hearing and the reason for these dismissals won't be made public.

This is a perfect time for the states to stand up and say, "Oh no you don't!" If the federal government has these lawsuits thrown out, the telcom racket is going to have to be targeted in state courts. And state lawmakers need to stand behind their citizens using new legislation if necessary.

(Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/BA13T97BN.DTL)