"Surveillance by Stealth: The Quiet Threat to Press Freedom" The case of Don Lemon, a CNN journalist charged with civil rights crimes related to a January protest in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has raised disturbing questions about the government's use of administrative summons.
This tool allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to secretly obtain phone records without a specific court order or grand jury involvement.
The DHS relies on 19 USC 1509, an obscure law enacted in 1966 to investigate customs related crimes such as smuggling. Experts argue that this legislation has been misused to bypass traditional investigative methods.