Senators charge public deceived by government on justification for domestic spying

Two Democratic senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee accused the Justice Department of misleading the public on legal justification of domestic spying under the Patriot Act. The DOJ denied that they provided any misleading information. The senators  are concerned about Section 215 of the Patriot Act that allows a secret national security court to enable [...]

2nd Circuit: Federal court allows challenge to warrantless surveillance

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for a second time that a suit could proceed that challenged a Congressional law allowing the National Security Agency to electronically spy on citizens without a probable-cause warrant. The case may finally come to trial unless the Obama administration uses the state secrets privilege to kill the [...]

9th Circuit: Coalition asks federal court to block government efforts to hide illegal domestic spying

A coalition including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief asking a federal appeals court to prevent the government from using the “state secrets” argument to dismiss a lawsuit challenging warrantless surveillance. In a press release, EFF described the lawsuit brought by a Muslim group,  “The Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation alleges in its lawsuit that [...]

Domestic spying pervasive since 9/11

President Barack Obama has done nothing to fulfill his promise to curtail warrantless spying and in fact wants Congress to renew powers given to the federal government to conduct the surveillance. Writing a commentary for Wired, Ryan Singel quotes Julian Sanchez of the Cato Institute on the effectiveness of the spying, “We have become so [...]

Federal appeals court rules government must turn over records on warrantless tracking of cell phones

The Electronic Freedom Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union won a victory in court as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government must produce documents concerning criminal prosecutions in which the government obtained cell phone site locations without a warrant. The court found that the release of the documents would [...]

Justice Department refuses to declassify opinion on legality of warrantless surveillance

The Justice Department has refused to declassify a 2001 opinion written by John C. Yoo on the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. Critics of the program want to obtain the entire 21-page opinion to make sure misguided legal opinions do not live on to guide government policy. -db From Secrecy News, August 26, 2011. by [...]

Warrantless surveillance: Law project blogger challenges cozy cooperation between FBI and internet providers

A Citizen Media Law Project blogger argues that the FBI is using National Security letters to obtain Internet records of various individuals to skirt the need for a warrant and that ISPs are all too willing to forego challenging the requests. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August 2nd, 2010 By Andrew Moshirnia I love [...]

ACLU sues over access to surveillance documents

The American Civil Liberties filed suit in federal district court to obtain documents concerning the federal government’s surveillance of U.S. citizens using the electronic media to communicate with people overseas. -db FierceGovernment June 7 2010 By David Perera The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit June 3 in a New York federal district court to [...]

Foundation uses Freedom of Information Act in seeking records on Patriot Act effectiveness

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed suit to obtain records on the effectiveness of provisions of the Patriot Act giving the FBI powers to seize electronic records and property and to wiretap phone conversations. The provisions are up for Congressional review early next year. -db Electronic Frontier Foundation May 11, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The [...]

Federal judge dismisses secrets privilege in ruling wiretapping of Islamic charity illegal

A federal judge ruled that the Bush administration’s wiretapping of an Islamic charity in Oregon was illegal and should have been subjected to independent court review. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise April 1, 2010 From Staff and Wire Service Reports In a repudiation of the Bush administration’s now-defunct Terrorist Surveillance Program, a federal judge ruled yesterday that [...]

Federal appeals court orders disclosure of names of telecom lobbyists

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government must reveal name of lobbyists who working for retroactive liability protection for telecom companies who participated in warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens after 9/11. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise February 10, 2010 By Sherri M. Okamoto The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled that the [...]

Foundation provides records of secret negotiations for telecom immunity in illegal government surveillance

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation obtained the records of secret negotiations between government agencies and Congress that provided immunity for telecoms cooperating with the government in warrantless surveillance of American citizens. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release November 12, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO – Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) posted [...]

Chances fading of reining in government secrecy granted under Patriot Act

Civil libertarians may be losing the battle to curb  government excess as the Obama administration is loathe to relinquish the power to operate in secrecy without the checks provided by judicial oversight. -DB Center for Internet and Society Stanford Law School Commentary October 7, 2009 By Larry Downes “Patriotism,” as Samuel Johnson famously said, “is [...]

Civil liberties group gains access to telecom lobbying record over surveillance program

A federal judge ordered the Obama administration to release records of telecom lobbying to obtain immunity from suits over their role in warrantless surveillance. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release September 24, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO – A judge ordered the government Thursday to release more records about the lobbying campaign to provide immunity to the [...]

Obama continues Bush procedures on warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens

The EFF legal director says the Obama administration has embraced the Bush policies on surveillance and more disturbingly the Bush principle that the executive branch is above the law. -DB ACS Blog Commentary August 17, 2009 By Cindy Cohn Both former NSA Director Michael Hayden and former Justice Department attorney John Yoo have taken to the [...]