Political Quotes

“I have sought recognition to introduce the Surreptitious Video Surveillance Act of 2010, on behalf of Senator Feingold, Senator Kaufman, and myself. This is a bill which I submit is necessary to protect our citizens from unwarranted intrusions in their homes. The bill regulates the use of surreptitious video surveillance in private residences where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Earlier this year, in Lower Merion Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, it was discovered that laptops taken home by students could be activated by school officials and thereby see what was going on inside a private residence. Surprisingly, this kind of surreptitious surveillance is not prohibited under Federal law. The wiretap laws specify it is a violation of law to intercept a telephone conversation or to have a microphone that overhears a private conversation, but if it is visual, there is no prohibition. This issue has been in the public domain since 1984--more than 25 years ago--when Judge Richard Posner, in the case captioned U.S. v. Torres, said this: Electronic interception, being by nature a continuing rather than one-shot invasion, is even less discriminating than a physical search, because it picks up private conversations (most of which will usually have nothing to do with any illegal activity) over a long period of time. . . . [E]lectronic interception is thought to pose a greater potential threat to personal privacy than physical searches.”