Article published September 16, 2003
Toledo judge referees nation's war on terror
By RYAN E. SMITH
BLADE STAFF WRITER
James Carr, a U.S. District Court judge in Toledo, has spent the last year behind closed doors, ruling on some of the most secret aspects of the war on terrorism.
As one of only 11 members of the country's secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, he's gotten intimate knowledge of the risks associated with the broader surveillance authority available to officials following Sept. 11, 2001. But he also knows plenty about the safeguards in place.
"The effort taken to comply with the statute's requirements is really reassuring," he said yesterday to an audience of about 150 people at the University of Toledo College of Law.
Judge Carr joined the surveillance court - sometimes called the "spy court" because it deals with intelligence requests involving suspected spies, terrorists, foreign powers, and foreign agents - in May, 2002. Nominated to the federal bench by President Clinton in 1994, Judge Carr was named to the surveillance court by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
The special court's power includes authorizing monitoring of someone's telephone conversations and e-mail. Since its inception in 1978, its judges have considered more than 10,000 applications for surveillance, and the numbers are increasing, he said. Members serve singly and on a rotating basis, traveling to Washington about every 10 weeks, Judge Carr said.
Typically, there is no court reporter to record the court's proceedings, and those who are subject to surveillance approved by the court are not informed that it took place. This differs from surveillance conducted by law enforcement officials in domestic criminal cases, organized crime for example, in which the subjects eventually receive notice, Judge Carr said.
The USA Patriot Act, passed six weeks after 9/11 relaxes some requirements, letting prosecutors get involved in the decision to seek an order from the court. The risk arises, he said, that officials could avoid more strict requirements for getting an ordinary wiretap.
He isn't the only one to raise concerns. The court itself ruled last year, before he joined, that such tactics are unjustified. Attorney General John Ashcroft appealed to a review court that had never met or issued a decision during the spy court's 25-year existence, and it sided with the administration. Still, Judge Carr said there are some safeguards, including the need to establish a tie to a foreign power or organization that poses a threat to this country.
"The foreign terrorist connection - you still have to show probable cause about that. There are safeguards in place."
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
