Evidence of a massive spying program controlled by the National Security Agency was uncovered in June, through revelations made public by Edward Snowden. Since then, the news has only gotten worse for people concerned with privacy.
After using a vacuum cleaner approach to gathering data, the NSA has been sharing that information with other groups, including the DEA and local police departments. Using systems and policies once put in place to combat terror, these surveillance tools are now commonly used in cases that have nothing to do with terrorism, including small drug possession cases.
For the Drug Enforcement Agency, this data is compiled and organized by their Special Operations Division, or SOD. The group is operated from an undisclosed location, located somewhere in Virginia. This secretive government organization collects tremendous amounts of information on drug-related activity, which is then passed on to local and state police departments.
When this information is distributed, it is done so under the condition that the source of that data (namely the NSA and DEA) remain hidden by re-creating the trail of evidence. This is known as "parallel construction."
After the attacks of
September 11, the Bush administration pushed the PATRIOT Act through Congress, greatly expanding the powers of the Federal Government to spy on Americans without a warrant. A variety of liberal advocacy groups organized opposition against the acts, calling the new powers unconstitutional.
Since the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in 2008, large-scale opposition to such practices has dwindled considerably, despite expansion of the spying programs.
Bruce Dixon is the managing editor of the Black Agenda Report and is a member of the state committee for the Georgia Green Party. Dixon recently wrote an article titled "NSA, DEA and Local Cops Share Information Concealed from Judges and Defendants, but No Liberal Outrage."
In the piece, Dixon makes the case that some of the acts committed by the Obama administration would not be tolerated by liberals if they were committed by a Republican president.
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