As Washington state woke up and got to work this morning, President Bush signed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) into law. While Senators Cantwell and Murray voted against the bill, 69 Senators supported it, putting the bill in the President's hands to sign.

Barely an hour later, the ACLU's legal team filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this new law based on privacy, free speech, and the separation of powers. As our national blog explains:

Written by Doug Klunder
Under the United States Constitution, a search warrant isn't required as long as police officers don't search any further than a private party has already searched. This "private search" exception allows, for example, law enforcement to open a box in shipment without a warrant if it's already been opened by the shipping company (even if not authorized by the recipient or shipper). As with so many privacy rules, however, the answer is better under the Washington State Constitution. The Washington Supreme Court recently decided that the private search exception doesn't apply to the state constitutional warrant requirement. Specifically, police can't enter a house without a warrant even when invited by a repairman and when the officers don't look any further than a private repairman already has. In other words, if you give a key to a cleaning service, you don't have to worry about them letting the police search your house while you're gone -- if you're in Washington.