Studs Terkel on Amnesty for Telecoms

If you have not had an opportunity to read this morning's New York Times op-ed by Chicago writer and oral historian Studs Terkel, you can find it here. Terkel is the ACLU of Illinois' lead plaintiff in the case against AT&T challenging telecom companies collaboration with the government in listening to telephone calls, reading emails and gathering customers personal records without a judicial order.

That case, along with numerous other similar cases from around the country, has been consolidated in federal court in San Francisco. Terkel's piece provides a terrific historical perspective for the current debate over legalizing massive data collection by the executive branch.