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No Surveillance Without Court Approval, Say Americans
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in the United States think their federal government should not be able to monitor specific conversations without a warrant, according to a poll by the University of Connecticut.
In the first sample, 52 per cent of respondents say the federal administration should be required to get court approval before conducting surveillance on Americans with ties to suspected terrorists. In a second sample, 75 per cent of respondents say a warrant is necessary if the government is unsure about an individual's ties to terrorist groups.
On Dec. 19, U.S. president George W. Bush defended a secret domestic electronic surveillance program that includes the wiretapping of the telephone calls and e-mails of Americans suspected of having terrorist ties. The president's remarks came in response to media reports that, since 2002, Bush has authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to operate this program without any judicial oversight.
On Jan. 31 during his State of the Union address, Bush declared, "To prevent another attack—based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute—I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaeda operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. (.) If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again."
Polling Data
Sample A - Do you think the federal government should be required to get court approval before conducting surveillance on Americans with ties to suspected terrorists?
Yes | 52% |
No | 45% |
Not sure | 3% |
Sample B - Do you think that the federal government should be required to get court approval before conducting surveillance on Americans if the government is unsure whether they have ties to suspected terrorists?
Yes | 75% |
No | 22% |
Not sure | 4% |
Source: University of Connecticut
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 American adults, conducted from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5, 2006. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.