This month, lawmakers in six states introduced versions of model legislation designed to deny the NSA state resources or cooperation from state officials. The bills cover everything from banning evidence collected by the NSA from being introduced in state courts to shutting off the supply of water and electricity to the agency's in-state data centers.Given that one of the NSA's main spook data centers resides in San Antonio, I'd love to see similar legislation filed in Texas during the 84th legislative session in 2015. According to this video from the Tenth Amendment Center, an NSA data center in Utah uses 1.7 million gallons of water per day. If the San Antonio location uses anywhere near that much, it's not an insignificant thing given that city's chronic water shortage:
"If the feds aren't going to address the issue, then it's up to the states to do it," says David Taylor, a GOP member of the Washington state House of Representatives whose Yakima Valley district hosts an NSA listening post. Taylor's bipartisan bill, introduced last week, would cut off "material support, participation or assistance" from the state and its contractors to any federal agency that collects data or metadata on people without a warrant. Practically speaking, it would mean severing ties between the NSA and state law enforcement, blocking state universities from serving as NSA research facilities and recruiting grounds, and cutting off the water and power to the agency's Yakima facility.
Similar bills, some of them less broad, have been floated in California, Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas. Others are expected in coming months in Michigan, Arizona, and Utah.
Since Barack Obama will still be president when the Texas Legislature meets again, I could see this gathering significant attention and momentum among the Tea Party crowd, though it would be virtually impossible to pass: The fact that House Speaker Joe Straus hails from San Antonio probably means it could never get a floor vote in that chamber, while the 2/3 rule would probably keep it from getting a vote in the Texas Senate. Still, the tactic would raise the profile of electronic privacy issues and, if something like that ever passed in a state like Texas or Utah where the NSA has a big physical plant, it'd be awfully fun to watch what happens.
RELATED: What can states do to rein in NSA phone surveillance?
.jpg)
10 comments:
Keep in mind that much of the water in the west is owned or controlled by the feds, with some delegation to the state(s)!!!!. May not be a great idea to hold a fed agency hostage, one might lose the water that one tries to cut off.
Power is the same where generated by hydroelectric facilities.
"much of the water in the west is owned or controlled by the feds"
Not in Texas, amigo, and certainly not in the Edwards Aquifer where SA gets its water.
it'd be awfully fun to watch what happens
If a state actually got serious about standing up to the Federal Government, right or wrong, I'd expect the Fed to respond with their usual restraint and civility. Fun to watch maybe, but not so fun to participate in.
So if this happens, does Texas lose an employer spending federal dollars here? Interesting choice for state legislators and governors to make.
Severing LE support is a moot point. There are less than 5 state LE officials that even know what metadata is, let alone how to use it. They are light years behind the NSA's shenanigans.
@8:26, compared to the Medicaid dollars Texas has rejected it would be a drop in the bucket.
@1:12, you'd be surprised at how many agencies use cell phone location data, from local PDs to the Department of Insurance (which according to testimony at the Lege accesses it using only subpoenas to telcos). It's more widespread than you think. They're not accessing the NSA's metadata cache, but they're accessing the same sort of information.
Grits@5:20pm your comment is right on the money. A lot of people in Texas and other states are hoodwinked by the NSA debate and forget that its the local agencies we have to be worried about. I am sure Harris County keeps tabs on people's cell phones and even emails but nobody ever brings that up. We need to investigate these local authorities before we complain about the feds
"We need to investigate these local authorities before we complain about the feds"
How about WHILE "we complain about the feds"? :)
Why not investigate what's going on in East Austin?
San Antonio's relying on Edwards Aquifer for their water supply. Edwards Aquifer Authority is the body that has regulatory power over that water, and they do not answer to the feds. If the NSA exceeds their quota, they can get cut.
Post a Comment