Resolution resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. Violations

Surveillance can be preliminary, limited and full

Wells 4 Christina E. Wells, Enoch N. Crowder Professor of Law, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Ohio Northern University Law Review 2004 30 Ohio N.U.L. Rev. 451 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM PRIVACY AND SURVEILLANCE: EMERGING LEGAL ISSUES: Symposium Article: Information Control in Times of Crisis: The Tools of Repression lexis

The Levi guidelines contemplated three levels of investigations: preliminary, limited and full. Preliminary investigations could be instigated only upon the basis of "allegations or other information" that the target might be engaged in unlawful activities involving the use of force or violence. ⁿ¹⁷³ Such investigations were confined to ascertaining "whether there [was] a factual basis for opening a full investigation" and were limited to 90 days unless longer periods were approved by FBI headquarters. ⁿ¹⁷⁴ The guidelines further limited surveillance techniques in preliminary investigations to review of existing FBI files, existing law enforcement records, public records, and other established sources of information. ⁿ¹⁷⁵ Physical surveillance and interviews were allowed only to identify the subject of an investigation and more intrusive forms of surveillance, such as mail covers, mail openings, electronic surveillance, and recruitment of new informants were expressly prohibited. ⁿ¹⁷⁶