TeleCom Immunity on Illegal Wiretapping?

Tomorrow the Senate is ready to debate and pass S. 2248 This is the Bill that will give giant TeleComs automatic retroactive immunity for their part in Bush's illegal, warrantless wiretapping program. This is also the Bill that Sen. Chris Dodd has promised to filibuster.

Sen. Dodd and Senator Feingold will point out that:

under current law, companies already get immunity for cooperating with government requests for information -- as long as the requests follow requirements that are clearly laid out in the law. If companies didn't follow this law, and cooperated with illegitimate requests for sensitive information, then we should not hand them a "get out of jail free" card after the fact. Judges should be the ones to make this determination -- and to rule on the legality of the warrantless program.

This is exactly right. Judges should be making this decision, not the legislative body.

Sen. Chris Dodd asks for help in removing retroactive immunity here.

You can find more detail on the Dodd-Feingold amendment that will be offered here and also here. This amendment will remove the retroactive immunity from the Bill.

Love him or hate him...listen to Sen. Ted Kennedy. He makes several excellent points.