FISA

  • You must absolutely read this fascinating account by a lawyer suing the U.S. Government for disregarding FISA in its electronic surveillance program. Usually, these cases die before they begin because the plaintiffs can't prove that they were surveilled without revealing State secrets, but in this case the government mistakenly released a document proving that the plaintiffs were wiretapped outside of FISA. This leads to a fascinating look into the legal process of fighting illegal wiretaps:
    In June of 2007, the DOJ attorneys filed two opening briefs in the 9th Circuit. One brief was publicly available, to which we would be allowed to file a publicly available responsive brief. The other was filed in secret, under seal, for the judge's eyes only. The bad news for us was that we would not be permitted to see the government's secret brief; the (sort of) good news was that we could file our own secret brief in response. Rebutting arguments you've not been allowed to see is a talent that isn't taught in law school.
    Straight outta Kafka. (22) #
    7/9/2008
  • If you're not sure whether Bush violated federal law by authorizing the NSA wiretap program, this post will clear things up. There are some questions that need to be answered here, such as why the New York Times waited a year until publishing this story, and why Bush circumvented the FISA act, which already gave him the power of warrantless surveillance in broad situations. (2) #
    12/20/2005
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