QUOTE
U.S. funding Mexico's wiretaps
Posted on Fri, May. 25, 2007
By SAM ENRIQUEZ
Los Angeles Times
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country's conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with U.S. on law enforcement.
The expansion comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend Mexico's constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge's approval in some cases.
...
It's unclear how broad a net the new surveillance system would cast: Mexicans speak regularly by phone, for example, with millions of relatives living in the U.S. Those conversations appear to be fair game for both governments.
Within the U.S., legal experts say that if prosecutors have access to Mexican wiretaps, they could use the information in U.S. courts. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that Fourth Amendment protections against illegal wiretaps do not apply outside the U.S., particularly if the surveillance is conducted by another country, said Georgetown University law professor David Cole.
Complete at LINK
Posted on Fri, May. 25, 2007
By SAM ENRIQUEZ
Los Angeles Times
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country's conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with U.S. on law enforcement.
The expansion comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend Mexico's constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge's approval in some cases.
...
It's unclear how broad a net the new surveillance system would cast: Mexicans speak regularly by phone, for example, with millions of relatives living in the U.S. Those conversations appear to be fair game for both governments.
Within the U.S., legal experts say that if prosecutors have access to Mexican wiretaps, they could use the information in U.S. courts. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that Fourth Amendment protections against illegal wiretaps do not apply outside the U.S., particularly if the surveillance is conducted by another country, said Georgetown University law professor David Cole.
Complete at LINK