Warrantless Wiretapping, Part VIII

Yes, the Senate passed the FISA amendments act. Here’s the voting record, from GovTrack:

Alabama
Aye	AL	Shelby, Richard [R]
No Vote	AL	Sessions, Jefferson [R]
Alaska
Aye	AK	Murkowski, Lisa [R]
Aye	AK	Stevens, Ted [R]
Arizona
Aye	AZ	Kyl, Jon [R]
No Vote	AZ	McCain, John [R]
Arkansas
Aye	AR	Lincoln, Blanche [D]
Aye	AR	Pryor, Mark [D]
California
Aye	CA	Feinstein, Dianne [D]
Nay	CA	Boxer, Barbara [D]
Colorado
Aye	CO	Allard, Wayne [R]
Aye	CO	Salazar, Ken [D]
Connecticut
Aye	CT	Lieberman, Joseph [I]
Nay	CT	Dodd, Christopher [D]
Delaware
Aye	DE	Carper, Thomas [D]
Nay	DE	Biden, Joseph [D]
Florida
Aye	FL	Martinez, Mel [R]
Aye	FL	Nelson, Bill [D]
Georgia
Aye	GA	Chambliss, C. [R]
Aye	GA	Isakson, John [R]
Hawaii
Aye	HI	Inouye, Daniel [D]
Nay	HI	Akaka, Daniel [D]
Idaho
Aye	ID	Craig, Larry [R]
Aye	ID	Crapo, Michael [R]
Illinois
Aye	IL	Obama, Barack [D]
Nay	IL	Durbin, Richard [D]
Indiana
Aye	IN	Bayh, B. [D]
Aye	IN	Lugar, Richard [R]
Iowa
Aye	IA	Grassley, Charles [R]
Nay	IA	Harkin, Thomas [D]
Kansas
Aye	KS	Brownback, Samuel [R]
Aye	KS	Roberts, Pat [R]
Kentucky
Aye	KY	Bunning, Jim [R]
Aye	KY	McConnell, Mitch [R]
Louisiana
Aye	LA	Landrieu, Mary [D]
Aye	LA	Vitter, David [R]
Maine
Aye	ME	Collins, Susan [R]
Aye	ME	Snowe, Olympia [R]
Maryland
Aye	MD	Mikulski, Barbara [D]
Nay	MD	Cardin, Benjamin [D]
Massachusetts
Nay	MA	Kerry, John [D]
No Vote	MA	Kennedy, Edward [D]
Michigan
Nay	MI	Levin, Carl [D]
Nay	MI	Stabenow, Debbie Ann [D]
Minnesota
Aye	MN	Coleman, Norm [R]
Nay	MN	Klobuchar, Amy [D]
Mississippi
Aye	MS	Cochran, Thad [R]
Aye	MS	Wicker, Roger [R]
Missouri
Aye	MO	Bond, Christopher [R]
Aye	MO	McCaskill, Claire [D]
Montana
Aye	MT	Baucus, Max [D]
Nay	MT	Tester, Jon [D]
Nebraska
Aye	NE	Hagel, Charles [R]
Aye	NE	Nelson, Ben [D]
Nevada
Aye	NV	Ensign, John [R]
Nay	NV	Reid, Harry [D]
New Hampshire
Aye	NH	Gregg, Judd [R]
Aye	NH	Sununu, John [R]
New Jersey
Nay	NJ	Lautenberg, Frank [D]
Nay	NJ	Menendez, Robert [D]
New Mexico
Aye	NM	Domenici, Pete [R]
Nay	NM	Bingaman, Jeff [D]
New York
Nay	NY	Clinton, Hillary [D]
Nay	NY	Schumer, Charles [D]
North Carolina
Aye	NC	Burr, Richard [R]
Aye	NC	Dole, Elizabeth [R]
North Dakota
Aye	ND	Conrad, Kent [D]
Nay	ND	Dorgan, Byron [D]
Ohio
Aye	OH	Voinovich, George [R]
Nay	OH	Brown, Sherrod [D]
Oklahoma
Aye	OK	Coburn, Thomas [R]
Aye	OK	Inhofe, James [R]
Oregon
Aye	OR	Smith, Gordon [R]
Nay	OR	Wyden, Ron [D]
Pennsylvania
Aye	PA	Casey, Robert [D]
Aye	PA	Specter, Arlen [R]
Rhode Island
Aye	RI	Whitehouse, Sheldon [D]
Nay	RI	Reed, John [D]
South Carolina
Aye	SC	DeMint, Jim [R]
Aye	SC	Graham, Lindsey [R]
South Dakota
Aye	SD	Johnson, Tim [D]
Aye	SD	Thune, John [R]
Tennessee
Aye	TN	Alexander, Lamar [R]
Aye	TN	Corker, Bob [R]
Texas
Aye	TX	Cornyn, John [R]
Aye	TX	Hutchison, Kay [R]
Utah
Aye	UT	Bennett, Robert [R]
Aye	UT	Hatch, Orrin [R]
Vermont
Nay	VT	Leahy, Patrick [D]
Nay	VT	Sanders, Bernard [I]
Virginia
Aye	VA	Warner, John [R]
Aye	VA	Webb, Jim [D]
Washington
Nay	WA	Cantwell, Maria [D]
Nay	WA	Murray, Patty [D]
West Virginia
Aye	WV	Rockefeller, John [D]
Nay	WV	Byrd, Robert [D]
Wisconsin
Aye	WI	Kohl, Herbert [D]
Nay	WI	Feingold, Russell [D]
Wyoming
Aye	WY	Barrasso, John [R]
Aye	WY	Enzi, Michael [R]

Unless and until this is overturned as unconstitutional, here is the nuts and bolts of the consequences:

The NSA is now legally funneling virtually every packet of voice or data communication that passes through the communications networks of the United States through data capturing and analysis tools, in real time.

This data is being analyzed by algorithms written to search for “suspicious” behavior. Currently, outside the NSA, there are maybe a couple dozen people who know what these algorithms are supposed to do. Probably, even inside the NSA, there is a tiny population of people who know what the algorithms actually do.

There is now one person in the United States (the Attorney General) who can declare outright that someone is worthy of advanced direct surveillance. There is no judicial oversight (contrary to the popular statements of several members of Congress) as the FISA court must accept this declaration at face value.

In the future, if this declaration is found to be based upon faulty reasoning (for example, if the algorithm flags you as a potential terrorist due to a bug and the AG elevates you to “person of interest”), any evidence gained by the active wiretapping of your communications is acceptable in a court of law.

Congratulations, my fellow Americans. You are now capable of being put on a terrorist watch list due to a software bug. And while I do believe that it is unlikely that this will stand up to a SCOTUS challenge, and equally unlikely that it will be abused horribly in the long run, I’m frankly utterly disgusted.