Secret Surveillance Warrants Remain Secret

In November, the Supreme Court declined to consider an ACLU petition arguing that the public has a First Amendment right to see the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s classified decisions.

For nearly a decade, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been trying to lift some of the secrecy cloaking the operations of the federal court that oversees foreign intelligence warrants. But in November, the Supreme Court declined to consider an ACLU petition arguing that the public has a First Amendment right to see the court’s classified decisions.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) approves electronic surveillance, physical searches, and demands for business records targeting “a foreign power or agent of a foreign power.” Agencies seeking warrants have to claim that the collection of foreign intelligence is a “significant purpose” of their investigations and follow “minimization” procedures aimed at limiting collection of information about U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Since 2013, the ACLU has been seeking the release of FISC opinions, redacted as necessary, regarding the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ telephone records and online data. That practice, which was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, was based on a controversial interpretation of PATRIOT Act provisions that expired in 2015. The USA FREEDOM Act, which Congress approved that year, renewed those provisions but imposed new restrictions on bulk collection of telecommunication metadata. – READ MORE