Empire's States Strike Back: Washington To Cut Off Power To the NSA

By Michael Krieger: We know the NSA shares data with state and local law enforcement. We know from a Reuters report that most of this shared data has absolutely nothing to do with national security issues. This bill would make that information inadmissible in state court. This data sharing shoves a dagger into the heart of the Fourth Amendment. This bill would stop that from happening. This is a no-brainer. Every state should do it.”
- Mike Maharrey, National Communications Director of the Tenth Amendment Center 
In case you haven’t heard of the OffNow coalition, the group is leading a nationwide charge to convince state legislatures to put a stop to the NSA’s unconstitutional spying by restricting crucial state resources such as water and power to NSA facilities. This tactic first received national attention earlier this year when California introduced such legislation, but it does not have actual NSA facilities in the state. Washington State does.
The NSA operates a listening center on the Army’s Yakima Training Center (YTC), and there is a bipartisan effort in Washington to prevent the allocation of state and local resources to the facility as long as the spy agency continues to violate Americans’ 4th Amendment rights. The Bill is called HB2272 and it is based on model language drafted by the OffNow coalition.
Kudos to Washington state, which has been leading the way in various freedom related issues, such as the drone debate as well as marijuana legalization.

More from OffNow:
In a bipartisan effort, Washington became first state with a physical NSA location to consider the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, designed to make life extremely difficult for the massive spy agency.
Rep. David Taylor (R-Moxee) and Rep Rep. Luis Moscoso (D- Mountlake Terrace) introduced HB2272 late Tuesday night. Based on model language drafted by the OffNow coalition, it would make it the policy of Washington “to refuse material support, participation, or assistance to any federal agency which claims the power, or with any federal law, rule, regulation, or order which purports to authorize, the collection of electronic data or metadata of any person pursuant to any action not based on a warrant.”
Practically speaking, the bill prohibits state and local agencies from providing any material support to the NSA within their jurisdiction. This includes barring government-owned utilities from providing water and electricity. It makes information gathered without a warrant by the NSA and shared with law enforcement inadmissible in state court. It blocks public universities from serving as NSA research facilities or recruiting grounds. And it  disincentivizes corporations attempting to fill needs not met in the absence of state cooperation.
A Washington company also has a strong link to the NSA. Cray Inc. builds supercomputers for the agency.
If the bill passes, it would set in motion actions to stop any state support of the Yakima center as long as it remains in the state, and could make Cray ineligible for any contracts with the state or its political subdivisions.
Three public universities in Washington join 166 schools nationwide partnering with the NSA.  Taylor’s bill would address these schools’ status as NSA “Centers of Academic Excellence,” and would bar any new partnerships with other state colleges or universities.
Let’s keep the momentum going.
Full article here.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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