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.

(3) No person, in any branch of the Federal Govern

6 ment, in however high an office, or in any other govern

7 mental or private position should be authorized either ex

8 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 elec14 tronic surveillance to misuse in the furtherance of partisan

13

16

15 political goals renders wiretapping and electronic surveillance

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.

19

SEC. 2. Title 18 of the United States Code is amended

20

21

(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—";

22

23

(2) by inserting immediately after subparagraph

24

(d) of section 2511 (1), but before “shall be fined" the

3

1

"(e) willfully intercepts or records any wire or

2

oral communication without the consent of all the par

3

ties to such communication”;

4

5

6

7

8

9

(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)

94TH CONGRESS

1st SESSION

H. R. 1864

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 23, 1975
Mr. KASTENMELER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-

mittee 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 forro

fran

6

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

i “8 2237. Use of civil officers of the United States for sur

3४

“ (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this sec

4 tion or otherwise required by statute, whoever being a civil 5 officer of the United States willfully conducts investigatious

6 into, maintains surveillance over, or maintains records re

7 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

66

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 cither to limit or to enlarge such legal au

12

14 thority of the l'nited States as may exist to:

15

“(1) collect, receive, or maintain information relevant to an investigation of an individual who has com

16

17

mitted or is suspected on reasonable grounds to have

19

“ (2) collect, receive, and maintain information rele

20

vant to lawful investigations of persons who are appli

21

cants for employment with the United States, who are

22

employees of the United States, or who are contractors, or prospective contractors of the United States."

2:

2

SEC. 3. (a) Title 28, United States Code, is amended by

3 adding after chapter 171 the following new chapter:

4

"Chapter 172. ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE

“Sec.
"2691. Civil actions generally; illegal surveillance.
“2692. Special class actions; illegal surveillance.
"-2693. Venue; jurisdictional amount.

5 "8 2691. Civil action, generally; illegal surveillance

6

“(a) Except as provided in subsection (1) 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 l'nited 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-

17

“(1) any actual damages suffered by plaintiff, but not less than liquidated damages at the rate of $100

18

19

per day for each day the prohibited activity was con

21

“(2) such punitive damages as the court may