California bill would require judge's warrant for government spying

"The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is very clear. It says the government shall not engage in unreasonable search and seizure," said the bill's author, Democratic State Sen. Ted Lieu, of Torrance. "The National Security Agency's massive and indiscriminate collecting of phone data on all Americans, including more than 38 million Californians, is a threat to our liberty and freedom."

The bill wouldn’t bar the NSA or any other federal government agency from continuing to spy. But it would prohibit the state from participating in that surveillance or providing material support to the agencies involved.

For example, utilities owned by the state government would not be able to provide water or electricity to any NSA offices, and state courts would not admit information gathered by the agency without warrants, according to independent news agency MintPress.

The California bill also would not allow law enforcement officials in the most populous U.S. state to assist federal agencies looking for records of phone calls, Internet use or other electronic activity by residents without a judge’s warrant.

It was opposed by the California District Attorneys Association, which said the bill was too vague.

A State Assembly committee will hear the bill in June, Lieu said in a news release. 

The California bill is the farthest along of several such measures that have been introduced in eight states – including Alaska, Arizona and Oklahoma – according to Lieu's spokesman Jeff Gozzo.

It comes as Congress wrestles with a similar bill at the national level. It would end the government's bulk collection and storage of telephone records, leaving them instead with the phone companies.

A federal judge ruled last year that the National Security Agency's practice of gathering so-called meta-data on U.S. residents was likely unconstitutional, but the ruling is being appealed by the administration of President Barack Obama.

Reuters