Civil Liberties

Leahy Promises To Keep Warrantless Email Access Out of Bill

He got caught and knows we're watching

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Stripped of its controversial provision for warrantless e-mail acccess, Sen. Patrick Leahy's bill to rewrite electronic privacy and surveillance law will head for a vote on Thursday.

The Vermont Democrat confirmed in a press release yesterday that his latest amendments to the bill will not include language that would have allowed more than 22 agencies—including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission—to access Americans' private e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant.