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The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
31–40 of 59 posts
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cannot imagine FISA Courts having victims or jury. I thought it was all decided by the judges. Is it not so?
That's true, but all FISA proceedings are classified, so there's no way they would allow cameras.
Well, they might allow cameras -- "classified" does not mean "no records" -- but any photos or video would also be classified.
They certainly wouldn't allow the media (or the public) in the courtroom, with or without cameras, or allow the media/public access to anything any cameras they did allow in captured.
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks... I actually hadn't thought about that aspect of it (that real estate court was still not established by Congress ;) I've been reading up on that a bit since your comment, it's a pretty interesting topic because it touches on one branch's ability to influence another. It's a little troubling that a supreme court justice (Roberts, in this case) has the ability to fill this oversight court with whoever he wants…
He has to fill the court with federal judges that have been appointed by a President and approved by the Senate. That's a somewhat higher standard than whoever.
I wish more people understood this... I keep seeing comments about being appointed with no oversight... there was oversight when they were approved by the congress(Senate). If they aren't fit to be on this court, then perhaps they aren't fit to be federal judges.
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#34[deleted]
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#35When I was doing real estate investing I ran into a kangaroo "court" that the local corrupt city set up to handle property code violations. They would have a cop set up at the front and an appointed "judge" (they had some other name for him to not offend the law too mightily) who wore robes and asked everyone to stand up and sit down. The person in the robes would arbitrarily make up fines for the offenses according…
This sounds very similar to the description the NYtimes gave on their piece about NYs local court system:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/nyregion/25courts.html?pag...
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#36Is anyone collecting a list of the surreal, absurd, or kafkaesque events surrounding post-9/11 national security? This episode reminds me of the red warning light from ksm's gitmo trial that would sometimes light up and cut the gallery feeds on its own: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/01/secrec...
Glenn Greenwald's commentary/journalism since a few years after 9/11 is basically such a list
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#37No sign on the door indicates that they know they should be ashamed even though shame doesn't appear to be one of their guiding lights. edit: great little piece, btw. I'll pass it around.
By law it's a secret court to begin with. Whether or not there's a sign on the door, it's still a secret court. Would a secret court that advertised its location be more palatable to you somehow? Because a sign on the door adds zero significance to the substance of the FISA court's existence or powers. And, given that it is a secret court, well it wouldn't be very secret if everyone knew where the courtroom was, woul…
Secret courts, secret trials, secret prisons, secret wars...maybe I need to learn why my ancestors left Germany.
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
The standard reason given is privacy for the victim and jury, less jury poisoning if there needs to be a retrial, people can be a little more or at ease, etc. It definitely depends on the court, OJ's trial was on TV.
I cannot imagine FISA Courts having victims or jury. I thought it was all decided by the judges. Is it not so?
Yes, but the rule is a part of general federal court procedure rules.
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#39The lack of a sign is not the problem. Given that hand scanner by the door, having a sign would be a bit silly -- anyone who would actually need the sign can't get in regardless. Given that (almost?) everything they do apparently involves classified information, the hand scanner makes sense. What is a problem, is not having anyone to answer the phones and not having the building receptionist know what to tell people.
I wonder how hackable that hand scanner is. Is it any more secure than the hotel rooms that were cracked a year or 2 back?
Re: The Door To The FISA Court Doesn't Even Have A Sign On It
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
He has to fill the court with federal judges that have been appointed by a President and approved by the Senate. That's a somewhat higher standard than whoever.
I wish more people understood this... I keep seeing comments about being appointed with no oversight... there was oversight when they were approved by the congress(Senate). If they aren't fit to be on this court, then perhaps they aren't fit to be federal judges.
Perhaps they aren't, I think you would find that to be true in a lot of cases.