US Judge Blasts Bill to Revamp Surveillance

Judge John Bates, a federal district-court judge who has served on the secret national-security court, slammed a new surveillance-overhaul bill backed by the White House and civil liberties groups that would establish a privacy advocate for the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in addition to curbing data collection on Americans.

Judge Bates said in a letter that the legislation's proposals for the surveillance court "could inadvertently undermine the twin goals of protecting privacy and national security." The letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the bill's leading sponsor, was at least the third time Judge Bates has weighed in on surveillance legislation this year, and it appears to be the strongest.