Bar association to oppose domestic spying

Bar association to oppose domestic spying

"The American Bar Association is preparing to weigh in against President Bush's eavesdropping on telephone calls going into and out of America. Contrary to polls showing Americans divided on the issue, ‘our poll shows that average Americans and legal scholars alike agree that the awesome power of the government to penetrate citizens' most private communications must not be held in one set of hands,’ ABA President Michael Greco said Friday at group's annual midyear meeting in Chicago. ‘To prevent the very human temptation to abuse the power, there must be checks and balances in the form of oversight by the courts and Congress.’"

"The ABA will debate and vote Monday on a resolution calling on Bush to follow the law that requires him to go before a judge in a closed courtroom to get permission to eavesdrop. ‘When the voice of the legal profession in the United States, the American Bar Association, with our 407,000 members has spoken on issues in the past, people have listened, and I'm gratified the administration has listened,’ Greco said."

Coming from the same groups that gave their approval to Sam Alito, this might carry some weight because there are ample lawyers on both sides of the aisle in the ABA. Let us hope that this voice will be heard.