7/28/2019 A Prism Timeline

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APRISMTIMELINE

1791BILLOFRIGHTSRATIFIED,INCLUDING

FOURTHAMENDMENTPROHIBITING

UNREASONABLESEARCHESANDSEIZURES

WITHOUTAWARRANTISSUEDWITH

PROBABLECAUSE

1973-1975WATERGATEANDCHURCHCOMMITTEE

INVESTIGATIONSREVEALSSURVEILLANCE

ABUSES

1978PRESIDENTCARTERSIGNSTHEFOREIGN

INTELLIGENCESURVEILLANCEACT

TheChurchCommitteeinvestigationsledtopassageoftheForeignIntelligenceSurveillanceAct(FISA)in1978whichpermitsthe

Presidenttoconductsurveillanceuptoayearwithapprovalofthe

AttorneyGeneral(subjecttoanumberofrestrictions).Alternatively,

thegovernmentmayseekacourtorderpermittingthesurveillance

usingtheFISAcourt.ApprovalofaFISAapplicationrequiresthecourt

findprobablecausethatthetargetofthesurveillancebea"foreign

power"oran"agentofaforeignpower",andthattheplacesatwhich

surveillanceisrequestedisusedorwillbeusedbythatforeignpower

oritsagent.Inaddition,thecourtmustfindthattheproposed

surveillancemeetcertain"minimizationrequirements"forinformation

pertainingtoU.S.person

2001-20029/11ANDTOTALINFORMATIONAWARENESS

After9/11,formerIran-ContradefendantJohnPoindexterjoinedthe

BushadministrationtoheadthePentagon'sTotalInformation

Awarenessprogram.Inadditiontoanalyzingfinancial,educational,

travel,medical,criminalandothergovernmentalrecords,theT.I.A.

programcouldincludethedevelopmentoftechnologiestocreaterisk

profilesformillionsofvisitorsandAmericancitizensinitsquestfor

suspiciouspatternsofbehavior.Theprogramwasdefundedin2002over"bigbrother"concerns.

2005PRESIDENTBUSHINSCANDALOVERCIRCUMVENTINGFISACOURT

Intheperiod1979-2006atotalof22,990applicationsforwarrants

weremadetotheFISACourtofwhich22,985wereapprovedand

only5weredefinitivelyrejected.Nonetheless,theBushadministrationwasdiscoveredtohavebeencircumventingFISAsince

2002ifnotearlier,whichfueledasuccessfulefforttowater-down

FISAandimmunizeserviceproviderswhocompliedwiththeBush

administration'swarrant-lesssurveillance.

2013

EDWARDSNOWDENLEAKSDETAILSOFTHEPRISMPROGRAMTOTHEGUARDIAN

GuardianbreaksstoryofPrismand"warrantless"wiretapping.,

includingNSAslidesdetailingtheprogram.TheObamaadministration

hassincesteppedforwardtoclaimprogramisapprovedbytheFISA

court,butobjectstothereleaseofa2011FISAOpinionfindingtheactivityunconstitutional.

JUNE2013SNOWDENSTEPSFORWARDTOREVEALHIS

IDENTITYONEVEOFU.S.-CHINASUMMIT.

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