Steven Hatfill Quotes


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Hirsh had uncovered CIA illegal surveillance of anti Vietnam war protesters in the late 1960s. They broke two sets of laws. First, the CIA had no authority to investigate and track American Citizens anywhere but particularly American citizens. Second, the FBI which did have the authority to investigate Americans, were not allowed to use the methods that the CIA did. They violated not only Federal Law and Rules, but also violated the 4th Amendment Rights of thousands of citizens.


Many politicians were arguing that giving the intelligence agencies more power to wiretap, bug and hack into personal communications despite the 4th Amendment’s strictures argued that the public was in rational fear of terror attacks and had a right to be protected.


This statement was made in response to the leaked disclosure that the U. S. Security agencies had software which would allow them to turn Smart TV Sets into listing devices without ever physically touching the TV set—for that matter from any place in the world. This area wgere there was a wide range of poarized scholarly legal opinion. The view here in articulated by Comey was that in a nation, Law enforcment personnel and authorities. albeit with checks and court supervision. must be able to override all comes to and rights of privacy in order to enforce the law. The other view is that from the earliest days of our nation there were certain areas of privacy that may not be breached. Much of the debate in over 200 year has been about the checks and balances that are associated with why the provacy needs to be breached and the due process thereof. But especially with the changes in technology iver the last centuries, the other side that it is not merely the issue of due process, When brain scanning technology is developed can there be any possiuble leagal justificaion to forcing a person to be brain scanned to determine is real rellings about his wife or children, Can privacy of individual thoughts be subject to a search warrant as is speech or action? More and more legal s holars have moved away from Comey's position becasue of the ver poor pewrformance that law enforcement has had in being checked. If the chances of a FISA Court ever denying a warrant is less thatn the odds of being struck by lightening, is there really any meaningful surveilance in our current systems. In addtion to the hundreds of throusands of State and local police department and investigator scandals that have been revealed in teh last 50 years, the FBI, The CIA, Military Inteligence Agencies and the NSA -- all of whom have been exposed for violating the laws about illegal searches and siezures, lying to the Courts and to the Congressional Oversight Commitees and even to a number of Presidents, has shifted the thinking of some to regulate by providing absolute limits on abridging certain kinds of privacy like brain scanning, statements of religioully protected concessions, spousal privilege etc.


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  • Born: October 24, 1953
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Scientist

Steven Jay Hatfill is an American physician, pathologist and biological weapons expert. He became the subject of extensive media coverage beginning in mid-2002, when he was a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks. His home was repeatedly raided by the FBI, his phone was tapped, and he was extensively surveilled for more than two years; he was also fired from his job at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). At a news conference in August 2002, Hatfill denied that he had anything to do with the anthrax letters and said "irresponsible news media coverage based on government leaks" had "destroyed his reputation". He filed a lawsuit in 2003, accusing the FBI agents and Justice Department officials who led the criminal investigation of leaking information about him to the press in violation of the federal Privacy Act.