ACLU Asks Appeals Court To Affirm Decision Striking Down Patriot Act ”National Security Letter” Provision (3/14/2008)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org; (212) 549-2666
Gag Orders Are Unconstitutional And Allow The FBI To Conceal Abuse, ACLU Says
NEW YORK - In a brief filed under seal on Monday and unsealed yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal appellate court to uphold a lower court decision striking down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act. The provision gives the FBI the authority to issue letters demanding private information about people within the United States, and to place the recipients of the letters under indefinite gag order. A report released on Thursday by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed widespread, systemic abuse of the NSL power by the FBI.
“The district court was right to find that the FBI can’t be given the unreviewable power to impose gag orders on the recipients of national security letters,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The FBI’s power to silence the recipients of these letters has to be subject to judicial oversight. Without that oversight, the FBI can misuse its power to conceal abuse and silence its critics, which is exactly what it’s been doing.”
Yesterday’s OIG report revealed that the FBI issued tens of thousands of NSLs in 2006. Among other abuses, the FBI misused NSLs to sidestep the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), according to the report. In one instance, the FBI issued NSLs to obtain information after the FISC twice refused its requests on First Amendment grounds.
The OIG also found that the FBI continues to impose gag orders on about 97 percent of NSL recipients and that, in some instances, the FBI failed to sufficiently justify why the gag orders were imposed in the first place.
An earlier OIG report detailing privacy breaches and misuse of NSLs between 2003 and 2005 led the FBI to issue new guidelines for use of the letters in June 2007.
(Continued here.)
CONTACT: media@aclu.org; (212) 549-2666
Gag Orders Are Unconstitutional And Allow The FBI To Conceal Abuse, ACLU Says
NEW YORK - In a brief filed under seal on Monday and unsealed yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal appellate court to uphold a lower court decision striking down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act. The provision gives the FBI the authority to issue letters demanding private information about people within the United States, and to place the recipients of the letters under indefinite gag order. A report released on Thursday by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed widespread, systemic abuse of the NSL power by the FBI.
“The district court was right to find that the FBI can’t be given the unreviewable power to impose gag orders on the recipients of national security letters,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The FBI’s power to silence the recipients of these letters has to be subject to judicial oversight. Without that oversight, the FBI can misuse its power to conceal abuse and silence its critics, which is exactly what it’s been doing.”
Yesterday’s OIG report revealed that the FBI issued tens of thousands of NSLs in 2006. Among other abuses, the FBI misused NSLs to sidestep the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), according to the report. In one instance, the FBI issued NSLs to obtain information after the FISC twice refused its requests on First Amendment grounds.
The OIG also found that the FBI continues to impose gag orders on about 97 percent of NSL recipients and that, in some instances, the FBI failed to sufficiently justify why the gag orders were imposed in the first place.
An earlier OIG report detailing privacy breaches and misuse of NSLs between 2003 and 2005 led the FBI to issue new guidelines for use of the letters in June 2007.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home