Protect constitution, elect Seals in 10th

In 2006, Mark Kirk voted for the Military Commissions Act, which denied habeas corpus to detainees, an 800-year principle which is one of the foundations of our republic and makes it unlawful to imprison people without cause. Last week, the SCOTUS overturned that law because it was unconstitutional.

Last Friday, Mark Kirk voted for the FISA legislation (along with Melissa Bean and Rahm Emanuel), which guts the Fourth Amendment. The Bush Administration and the telecom companies colluded to commit unreasonable searches without probable cause as required by the Fourth Amendment, and the new FISA bill retroactively allows that illegal activity. And for those who would argue these data-mining activities were needed to keep us "safe," remember that the old FISA law allowed thousands of incidents of surveillance while protecting our Fourth Amendment rights. The only "updating" the Bush administration has wanted for FISA is retroactive immunity for the telecoms. Now it goes to the Senate, where there is slim chance of it being stopped.

When Mark Kirk took the oath of office, he promised to protect the constitution. I personally think he should be impeached, but have little hope of that happening. I hope the voters in the 10th District will join me in voting him out of office. Dan Seals will make a great representative for our district. (And call Senators Durbin and Obama to encourage them to vote "no" on FISA).

Lynn Barnett

Vernon Hills