Citing the National Security Agency’s “direct threat to our liberty and freedom,” California State Senators Ted Lieu and Joel Anderson introduced a bill on Monday to stop the state from enabling the agency’s “massive level of spying” and violations of the Fourth Amendment brought to light by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

“The National Security Agency’s massive level of spying and indiscriminate collecting of phone and electronic data on all Americans, including more than 38 million Californians, is a direct threat to our liberty and freedom,” Sen. Lieu, a Democrat representing Torrance, stated.

“All 317 million Americans cannot reasonably be considered to be suspicious simply for making or receiving telephone calls,” the statement from Sen. Lieu continued.  “The NSA’s blanket seizure of the telephone records of all Americans is therefore an ‘unreasonable seizure’ by any definition of the term under the Fourth Amendment.”

“I support this bill,” added bill co- author Sen. Anderson, a Republican representing the San Diego and Riverside communities, “because I support the Constitution, our 4th Amendment rights and our freedoms to live in the United States of America.”  

As the OffNow coalition, which helped craft the legislation, outlines, Sens. Lieu and Anderson’s Senate Bill 828:

  1. Prohibits state and local agencies from providing any material support to the NSA within their jurisdiction. Includes barring government-owned utilities from providing water and electricity.
  2. Makes information gathered without a warrant by the NSA and shared with law enforcement inadmissible in state court.
  3. Blocks public universities from serving as NSA research facilities or recruiting grounds.
  4. Provides sanctions against corporations attempting to fill needs not met in the absence of state cooperation.

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