Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History Federal Surveilla

Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History Federal Surveillance Civil Rights 20240712

From foreign and domestic sources, those threats are real. They have been a real threat u. S. History. I think they can come from across the political spectrum. But for over a century, in addition to taking action against real threats to the lives of american citizens, bureaus and agencies within the United States government have surveilled those who have expressed what is described as Strong Political views that run counter to the prevailing government political paradigm. Will this challenge is the notion often expressed, by those who support a surveillance state of some sort, that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. And i want to come back to that later on in our discussion. Maybe you would hear to that you, maybe you are on the fence about it, maybe you firmly reject it. That is fine, we will have an opportunity to discuss that later. But the history of abuses in domestic surveillance, in this country, necessitates that discussion. Because the same tools that can be used to protect citizens and democratic society, against legitimate threats, can also be turned against those same citizens for less noble and even the various region reasons. We want to look back at the history of surveillance of the United States, you would go back probably about a century to 1908. Teddy roosevelt attorney general creates a special squad of investigators to work on behalf of the department of justice. It becomes known as the bureau of investigation and by the 1930s, the federal bureau of investigation, the fbi. The fbis own history, if you go on their website, they have a long narrative description of their history and they link the creation of an fbi to the Progressive Movement. That is really active at that period of time at the turn of the century. The Progressive Movement is the belief that undergirds it is that the federal government must intervene to Foster Justice in an industrial society. Its response to the sort of labor unrest that we have talked about in previous classes, and everything that goes along with it, and that inspired that terrible kind of working conditions and so forth. So the Progressive Movement inspires things like for example, the fda, to ensure that the food youre getting has labels of what you are eating and what youre eating exactly what you think youre eating. It will eventually lead to the things like child liberalize, but it will also create a nationwide Law Enforcement body that is able to keep tabs on criminals throughout the country that did not exist prior to this period in time. The fbis history explains again this creation based on the need for a professional Law Enforcement agency in the face of labor conflict, a rise in Violent Crimes and corruption, both in politics and big business, all of that accompanying organization and industrialization at the turn of the century. As well as National Security concerns, particularly regarding anarchism. The fbi on its own description described it as the first modernday terrorists. As well as threats of war times. Subversion and espionage, which we talked about the other week when we talked about free speech. In 1909, the fbi makes its first efforts to infiltrate political organizations, beginning with the socialist party of america, by the mid 19 tense, they are investigating anti militarists, the anti enlistment groups. And over the years the fbi will spy on a variety of american organizations including the American Civil Liberties union, the evangelical American Council of churches. The American Jewish congress, the nationwide labor federation, the aflcio, the National Association for the advancement of colored people, the Ethical Society of philadelphia, the new orleans women center, the American Friends Service committee, the quaker social justice organization, the womens peace movement, led by jim adams, pro labor anti war focusing seniors like pete seger, its that era, its that era. Sometimes people and organizations or investigative decades. These are not violent revolutionary threats. But rather political dissidents who oppose a certain aspects of u. S. Government policy, and perhaps even the particular form of government we have, they do so through specific pacific means, specifically protected under the constitutional though as we noted on our class on free speech, not so much at the turn of the century, when anarchist and leftist thought is strictly policed. Political spying will begin right around 1908, 19 or nine, and will run until about 1924 and it will stop for about a decade. In the impetus to stop it is the first red scare. Immediately after the First World War comes to an end in november of 1918, the following year, 1919, a number of actions will raise a lot of concerns about government surveillance. The seattle general strike, in early 1919, shuts down that city. Tens of thousands of workers go on strike across industries. In the spring of 1919, a bomb plot is broken up and then there is a wave of bombings in the summer, anarchist bombings, targeting prominent people including the attorney general, alexander palmer. His house is down on our, before you get to the main circle before our hits massachusetts, ive been driving by his house for years and super weird. The Bureau Investigation creates the bureau of radical division, to deal with this resurgence of anarchy zoom. It cited by a young agent named jay edgar hoover, it compels files on roughly 200,000 individuals. The bureau than uses those files to round up severals thousands of suspected radicals in a series of raids in 1919 and 1920, that occurred at least in 40 cities across the United States. Some of the people who were rounded up our wellknown prominent radicals, the anarchist emma goldman, who was a russian immigrants to the United States. Other people arrested simply because they appeared foreign. Or they were members of a labor union, so forth. Many of those arrested were held in committee cato for months. No access to lawyers, no access to their families and 249 resident aliens or put on a boat and deported to russia at the end of 1919, because of their alleged anarchist and syndicate list beliefs. There is a tremendous political backlash against this, in particular because a lot of these people who are rounded up, they are not engaged in radical violent behavior, they instead our political dissidents, maybe they hold very radical views, but nonetheless, they have not engage in anything and some of them are simply immigrants immigrants from russia immigrant from southern and eastern europe. So the political backlash against this brings the fbis political spying to a temporary halt, this is made especially palatable to those who are in power and may have been inclined to support this kind of roundup at first. In part because of new immigration quotas that are put in place in 1924, these quotas restrict immigrants from southern and central europe. They totally shut down immigration from east asia, which we will talk about next week in the context of talking about japanese american internment. In 1929, it sees the end of a tenyear long intelligence gathering program. It is run by the organization known as the black chamber, could they have picked more nefarious name . This is made up of people from the state department and Army Intelligence essentially for ten years, starting a 1919 and rain to 1929. U. S. Telegraph Companies Like Western Union had provided the black chamber with incoming and outgoing cable traffic. This was shut down by president hoovers incoming secretary of state, henry stimson. Simpson specifically oppose the spying on the u. S. Diplomatic allies, not necessarily spying in general, but spying on the u. S. Diplomatic allies. Seeing very famously, gentlemen dont reach others male. There is also Supreme Court case at the end of the 20s that deals with wiretapping, weighing whether or not tapping into someones phone conversation, you have to imagine this is early on in this period, where their phones, does that violate the Fourth Amendment . Heres what the Fourth Amendment says, the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. William howard taft, formerly president of the United States then joins the Supreme Court, he speaks for the courts decision to basically rule against the notion that wiretapping pilots a fourth main amendment, it proves this, that approval will last for roughly 40 years. Heres what he says, this is in favor of ruling in favor of wiretaps, claiming they dont violate the Fourth Amendment. Congress may of course protect the secrecy of telephone messages by making them when intercepted, in admissible in evidence in federal criminal trials by directly tessellation. If Congress Wants to rule on this, they can. And thus depart from the common law of evidence. But the courts may not adopt such a policy by attributing an enlarged and unusual meaning to the Fourth Amendment. The reasonable view is that one who installs in his house a telephone instrument, with connecting wires, intends to project his voice to those quite outside, and at the wires beyond his house and messages passing over them, are not within the protection of the Fourth Amendment. Those who intercepted the projected voices were not in the house of either party to the conversation, neither the cases we have cited or any of the many federal decisions brought our attention, holds the Fourth Amendment to have been violated as against a defendant, unless there has been an official search and seizure of his person or such a seizure of his papers and tangible but the real effects, or actual physical invasion of his house for the purpose of making a seizure. A standard which would forbid the reception of evidence if it came by other than nice, ethical conduct by government officials, would make society suffer and give criminals greater immunity than has been known here to four. What he is saying here is that if you are using a telephone telephone machine, it is connected to wires that go outside the house to speak to some outside of your home, and thus, someone tapping into your wires is not actually going in your house and searching your belongings. That is outside your home, and thus does not fall under the auspices of the Fourth Amendment. This is how the court rules in 1928. I want to hit again on this last thing that he says, ill say it again, a standard which would forbid the reception of evidence, if obtained by other than nice ethical conduct by government officials would make society suffer and give criminals greater immunity than has been known the heretoforth. Brand ty brandeis set the scene for his dissent, when he dissented and he said regarding tariffs last comments, which are essentially saying that the ends justify the means, but heres what brandeis says. Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizens. In a government of laws, existence of the government would be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Lets try that again, in a government of laws, existence of the government would be imperiled if it feels to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher for good or for ill. It teaches the whole people bites example, crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law. It invites every man to become a law unto himself. It invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law, the end justifies the means, to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of criminal, would bring terrible retribution. Against this pernicious doctrine, this court should resolutely says face. For political spying ends from roughly the early twenties until 1936, when Franklin Roosevelt requests that it be resumed. What we will see very clearly here, is that government surveillance, again, it does not necessarily target to one particular group. Though historically its targets have been on the left, not always. Nor is it simply the provisions of just one Political Party or ideology. Franklin roosevelt, the great liberal democrat, requests that political spying be renegotiated in 1936, we will be led by our men appear to hoover, appointed head of the bureau of investigation at the in 1924 the 29. Younger than i am. Hoover put together a list that it helped round up of a fast swath of people in the red scared, but he escaped the political fallout. The blade came down the heads of a few people higher up than him. The bureau rebounded within that decade. It hoover had really try to emphasize the bureaus role as a Crime Fighting organization. Particularly in the 1930s, when, during the depression, you have some famous criminals that arise, people like john dillinger, that the fbi put a lot of work into capturing. Hoover emphasizes this, knows how to work the media in his favor. The bureaus reputation rebounds, fdr was concerned about soviet spies and concerned about fascists. This is the mid 19 thirties, fascism is on the rise in europe. There are several u. S. Based groups that emerged after hitlers rise to power, and mussolinis rise to power. Large enough to the American Nazi Party can hold a rally in Madison Square garden. Immediately after at all philly adolf hitler invades poland, the fbi investigates espionage, treason, espionage says. Hoover asked to the list a list of activities. It is unclear how much Franklin Roosevelt, how much the 20 general, people high up in the government, knew about the extent of what hoover would do. There is no record about that particular meeting and what exactly was said in it. And roosevelt has bigger fish to fry, in some sense. Not knowing what is going down the road, he has got an economic depression that continues to blend along. He will ultimately have the war to deal with, even prior to the United States entry, that is a looming specter of the war in europe. But, there is no sense that fdr opposed hoovers intel work either. Hoover renews this. His renewal of investigative activities is authorized outside the courts, he discourages roosevelts administration from going to congress to get legislative approval because he sure he wont get it. Congress had actually been very suspicious of the Bureau Investigation even being created in the first place, concerned about creating a secret state police force. Hoover warns fdr that haters will twist the truth. And so fdr proves political spying, the resumption of political spying without congressional approval. Fdr supports hoovers suggestion which ultimately does not have come to pass, to have every person america fingerprinted, that was the Newest Technology at the moment. When the aclu complains in 1836, about surveillance of pacifist groups, groups that dont want to go to war in europe, who are trying to ensure that the United States will not become involved in anything that is about to happen over there, ive got responds in writing that he sees nothing wrong with investigating groups that spread quote, false information and engage in quote false teachings. Worth noting, his house had been bombed in 1919. That certainly may have colored his views of political dissidence. Moreover, fdr has hoover look into political opponents as well. In particular, he has the fbi investigate several senators and several prominent public figures, including charles lindbergh, all of whom oppose any intervention in europe. Hoover learns from this experience that he can curry for favor and gain leverage by digging into any president s enemies or perceived enemies. For example, he never blackmails the kennedy brothers, but he does give Robert Kennedy attorney general of his brothers presidency, monthly updates of everybody knows, accusations against him in his family members. On the one hand perhaps this is abel knowledge that you can use however he sees fit. But he also ensures the kennedys know that hoover knows everything. Knows everything that everybody is doing. The committees have the inclination to suddenly shut down what they might be doing, they will know in the back of their mind that hoover has tabs on anything that they have been doing. The restoration of spying also takes place in the context of the emerging National Security state, when we are familiar with today. When the Second World War ends, the cold war begins shortly thereafter. The house on american activities committee, which investigates suspected subversives and the federal governments massive loyalty program, designed to snuff out anybody that might have dissenting political views. They all rely on fbi reports. In 1956, the fbi goes on the offensive. With the creation of coal intel pro, seep usa.

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