Good Explanation Why the FISA Restrictions Are Important

[UPDATE] Just saw that the quoted parts are hard to see, so I'm changing that.

From Bookworm, a use of general writs without restrictions that was prompted by the King's desire to "get something" on a political opponent:

This abuse came to a head in London (and was, at the time, a cause célèbrethroughout the colonies) when King George III authorized a general warrant against a political opponent, John Wilkes, in the hope that searching Wilkes’ home would produce evidence of something — anything — the Crown could use to pin a crime on Wilkes. ” British agents, having rooted through Wilkes’ private writings, found nothing worse than a truly bawdy poem. They seized the poem and proceeded to create a crime by surreptitiously publishing it as if Wilkes had done so himself – that being a necessary element of the crime of blasphemy in the U.K. of 1760 – and then charging Wilkes with the crime. Wilkes was then expelled from Parliament and fled to France.

When it came to drafting the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers remembered well the abuses to which the British government put general warrants and writs of assistance. For over two centuries, the 4th Amendment has protected American citizens from officials seeking to settle scores or obtain power by wrongfully imposing themselves into and onto private property despite having no having probable cause to believe any crime has been committed.

Yes, this is EXACTLY the reason that the FISA warrant is WRONG.

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