California, Other States, Weighing Anti-NSA Bills

First there was the Second Amendment Preservation Act, a bill floated in a number of conservative statehouses in recent months that would make it a crime for U.S. government officials to enforce federal gun laws within their state boundaries.

Now comes the Fourth Amendment Protection Act.

Its the name of a ripped-from-the-headlines bill introduced by state lawmakers in California on Monday.

It would ban state agencies and officials from helping the federal government collect electronic data and metadata on Americans without a targeted warrant. And it would prohibit state and local law enforcement authorities from using such data in their investigations and prosecutions.

Lawmakers in Arizona and Oklahoma are drafting similar measures all of them based on model bill language crafted by the Los Angeles-based Tenth Amendment Center, the same states rights advocacy group that also spearheaded the Second Amendment protection lobbying campaign.

In a lively-worded statement, Sen. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Redondo Beach who sponsored the bill, described it as an essential guard against privacy abuses, decrying the National Security Agencys spy programs as a direct threat to our liberty and freedom.

The NSA believes its data collection to be legal and is defending the agencys surveillance programs in pending lawsuits across the country.

Its not clear how the measure would actually intersect with federal spy programs.

A statement from Mr. Lieus office announcing the bill says: To collect data on Californians, the NSA sometimes relies upon services provided by the state and/or private entities that provide services on behalf of the state.

The California bill doesnt specify any penalties for violations by state officials. A spokesman for Mr. Lieu called the bill a starting point.

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California, Other States, Weighing Anti-NSA Bills