2 1 have aided those who engage in wiretapping and electronic 2 surveillance, and current Federal law has not provided ade3 quate safeguards against corrupt abuses of communications 4 technology. 5 (3) No person, in any branch of the Federal Govern6 ment, in however high an office, or in any other govern7 mental or private position should be authorized either ex8 plicitly or implicitly to violate the constitutional rights of 9 persons by eavesdropping on private conversations through 10 wiretapping and electronic surveillance. 11 (4) The end of prosecuting those who violate the law 12 does not justify wrongdoing on the part of the Government. (5) The peculiar susceptibility of wiretapping and elec 13 14 tronic surveillance to misuse in the furtherance of partisan 15 political goals renders wiretapping and electronic surveillance 16 a particularly dangerous temptation to Government officials, 17 and the chance of its misuse outweighs any potential benefits 18 which might otherwise be found in it. SEC. 2. Title 18 of the United States Code is amended (1) by striking out in section 2511 (1) "Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who-" and inserting in lieu thereof "Whoever—”; (2) by inserting immediately after subparagraph (d) of section 2511 (1), but before "shall be fined" the following new subparagraph: 1 2 3 4 5 3 "(e) willfully intercepts or records any wire or oral communication without the consent of all the par ties to such communication"; (3) by striking out "or" at the end of section 2511 (1) (c) and by inserting "or" at the end of section 2511 (1) (d); (4) by striking out sections 2511 (2) (a) (ii), (b), (c), and (d); (5) by striking out section 2511 (3); (6) by striking out section 2512 (1) “Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person who willfully" and inserting in lieu thereof "Whoever-”; (7) by striking out section 2512 (2); and (8) by striking out sections 2516, 2517, 2518, 2519, 2510 (9). 67 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 94TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1864 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 23, 1975 Mr. KASTENMEIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To enforce the first amendment and fourth amendment to the Constitution and the constitutional right of privacy by prohibiting any civil officer of the United States from exercising surveillance of citizens, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Freedom 4 Surveillance Act of 1975". 5 6 DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE SEC. 2. (a) Chapter 109 of title 18 of the United States 7 Code is amended by adding at the end thereof the following 8 new section: 2 1 "§ 2237. Use of civil officers of the United States for sur 2 3 veillance prohibited "(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this sec4 tion or otherwise required by statute, whoever being a civil 5 officer of the United States willfully conducts investigations 6 into, maintains surveillance over, or maintains records re7 garding the beliefs, associations, political activities, or private 8 affairs of any citizen of the United States, or regarding the 9 beliefs, membership, or political activities of any group or 10 organization of such citizens, shall be fined not more than 11 $10,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. "(b) Nothing contained in the provisions of this section 13 shall be deemed either to limit or to enlarge such legal au 12 14 thority of the United States as may exist to: "(1) collect, receive, or maintain information rele vant to an investigation of an individual who has committed or is suspected on reasonable grounds to have committed a felony; "(2) collect, receive, and maintain information relevant to lawful investigations of persons who are applicants for employment with the United States, who are employees of the United States, or who are contractors, or prospective contractors of the United States." 2 SEC. 3. (a) Title 28, United States Code, is amended by 3 adding after chapter 171 the following new chapter: 4 "Sec. "Chapter 172. ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE "2691. Civil actions generally; illegal surveillance. "2692. Special class actions; illegal surveillance. 5 "§ 2691. Civil action, generally; illegal surveillance 6 "(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of section 7 1386, title 18, United States Code, or otherwise required by 8 statute, whoever being a civil officer of the United States 9 conducts investigations into, maintains surveillance over, or 10 maintains records regarding the beliefs, associations, political 11 activities, or private affairs of any citizen of the United States, 12 or regarding the beliefs, membership, or political activities of 13 any group or organization of such citizens shall be liable for 14 damages to any person, group, or organization that has been 15 the subject of a prohibited investigation, surveillance, or rec16 ordkeeping in an amount equal to the sum of- "(1) any actual damages suffered by plaintiff, but not less than liquidated damages at the rate of $100 per day for each day the prohibited activity was con ducted; 66 (2) such punitive damages as the court may allow, but not in excess of $1,000; and |