delayed do to yesterdays post


A U.S. magistrate on Friday rejected arguments by the Bush administration and urged
 a federal judge to order the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola has decided to hold out the contempt-of-court citation
in order to ensure that White House personnel save backups of electronic messages that may have
 been deleted. Traces of all keystroke activities and electronic communiques remain on respective
computer hard-drives unless and until the hard-drive is replaced or otherwise rendered inoperable.



Magistrate Facciola and other like-minded judges, and brave organizations like CREW and others,
 have quietly and legally waged all-out war against those powers-that-be that continue to tear down
 the foundation of our legal system every single day.


The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, says it has been unable to get
assurances from the White House that all backup tapes will be preserved. Nor is it clear whether
 some backup tapes have already been destroyed, or recycled, resulting in taping over messages
 that were already there.


Judge Facciola also deserves respect in this world of "strict constructionists" which is really
 conservative code for executive branch enablers, and those judges who would gladly tear
"privacy issues" clear out of the U.S. Constitution.. In this day and age, the judicial system
is sorely lacking of constitutionalists.


The Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act require that all e-mails be saved.

White House seeks declaration over order.

In a hearing before Facciola on Wednesday, the Justice Department argued strenuously
 against the course of action the magistrate ended up taking.


Remember, no data is ever completely gone from a computer hard-drive.
 It can be encrypted, it can be "wiped" many times, but those methods just
make it more difficult for techs and geeks to retrieve it. But, not impossible;
 data never really disappears beyond saving.

Unless the hard-drives containing all the data from the emails in question were
 utterly destroyed beyond salvaging, those emails remain.

There are statesmen and women left in America.
We must support them at every opportunity.

SO, have you been nice to a lawyer today? (we're gonna need 'em)

Peace

(EDITED.... Full story and additional ref @....
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/21/41245/888)