[EPIC's letter is 23 pages and is excerpted below. --Declan] http://epic.org/privacy/justices/roberts/0905letter.pdf We urge you to explore the views of Judge Roberts on the right to privacy, particularly as they may relate to the future of the Fourth Amendment and the role of the Congress inestablishing statutory safeguards. Although Judge Roberts is a distinguished lawyer and a brilliant jurist, we believe that he may have a very limited view of both the Court’s role inprotecting Constitutional rights and of the ability of the Congress and the states to defend privacy through legislation. In focusing on other important issues, one disturbing and well-documented aspect of Judge Robert's past opinions and memos has been substantially ignored. In the contemporary environment, Constitutional and statutory protections of privacy are more vital than ever. Fear of terrorism has prompted a substantial increase in government surveillance. Technological change and lax corporate data security have made privacy a matter of pressing legislative concern. Given the dramatic expansion of the government's surveillance capabilities during the last several years and the likelihood that the issues the Supreme Court will face in the next few decades will be heavily influenced by the advance of technology, we believe it is important to understand how the nominee views the relationship between Constitutional principles and emerging threats to privacy. This is not simply the question of whether the Supreme Courtbroadly applies Constitutional principles; it includes also whether the Justices are prepared to defer to the Congress and the states when they seek to protect the privacy rights of individuals. On this point as well, we are concerned about the views of Judge Roberts. _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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