Versión Español
Joining other eight states, Tennessee legislators on Wednesday introduced a bill to keep the NSA out of their territory. The “Tennessee Fourth Amendment Protection Act” was introduced by State Senator Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) and State Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden), as Senate and House sponsors respectively.
A national think-tank, the Tenth Amendment Center, drafted and lobbied this bill, which aims to impede unconstitutional federal laws, regulations, and entities from the state level. This bill would ban “material support . . . to any federal agency claiming the power to authorize the collection of electronic data or metadata of any person pursuant to any action not based on a warrant.” In other words, it would be illegal for state, local agencies, and universities to provide support for the NSA inside Tennessee’s borders, and it would make any information gathered by the NSA, without a warrant, inadmissible in a state court.
Apparently, the NSA has been operating a computing facility, called Oak Ridge, in Tennessee. In this regard, Campfield said “we have an out of control federal agency spying on pretty much everybody in the world. I don’t think the state of Tennessee should be helping the NSA violate the Constitution and the basic privacy rights of its citizens — and we don’t have to.”
Source: Ben Swann.
