Michael Maharrey – A new law banning “material support or resources” for warrantless federal surveillance programs went into effect in Michigan. This is an essential step every state needs to take at a time when the federal government seems unlikely to ever end unconstitutional spying on its own

Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-Troy) introduced House Bill 4430 (HB4430) last spring. The new law prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from assisting, participating with, or providing “material support or resources, to a federal agency to enable it to collect, or to facilitate in the collection or use of a person’s electronic data” unless one of five conditions apply:

(a) The person has given informed consent.
(b) The action is pursuant to a warrant that is based upon probable cause and particularly describes the person, place, or thing to be searched or seized.
(c) The action is in accordance with a legally recognized exception to warrant requirements.
(d) The action will not infringe on any reasonable expectation of privacy the person may have.
(e) This state or a political subdivision of this state collected the electronic data or metadata legally.

The House approved the final version of HB4430 108-1. The Senate passed the measure 37-0. With Gov. Snyder’s signature, the new law went into effect at midnight June 17. Continue reading →