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Spy Court Tells White House To Fess Up

Decision follows attempt by Congress to legalize spy program

by Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 18, 2007 

The FISC stated that the ACLU's request was "an unprecedented request that warranted further briefing."

The FISC order mandates that the White House reply to the ACLU's request no later than August 31, and the ACLU must reply on or before September 14.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said the court's decision was "essential to the ongoing debate about government surveillance."

"We desperately need greater transparency and public scrutiny," Romero said in a press statement. "We're extremely encouraged by today's development because it means that, at long last, the government will be required to defend its contention that the orders should not be released."

The FISC decision comes in the wake of the passage of the "Protect America Act," legislation that legalized many aspects of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance and wiretapping program.

The Act was hurriedly passed by Congress before its summer break and signed into law by Bush on August 5. Although the act's provisions sunset after six months and will need to be reauthorized, the Democratic-led Congress was heavily criticized for supporting programs that privacy and civil liberties advocates have criticized as invasive and unconstitutional.

After defending the program as legal and not requiring oversight under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the White House reversed course in January and announced that the surveillance program would be placed under FISA's authority in January.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, in an interview with FOX News' Neil Cavuto in August, revealed that the FISC had ruled against several provisions of the warrantless surveillance program, spurring the Bush administration to push for quick passage of legislation that would authorize the program, even temporarily.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Justice Department, claiming Boehner's actions may have revealed sensitive information and broken the law by discussing the ruling.

Many lawsuits challenging the program's legality and scope continue to proceed, despite the White House's best efforts to get them dismissed on grounds of threatening national security. A lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against the National Security Agency (NSA) and AT&T for their roles in enabling the wiretapping program is scheduled to go before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on August 15.

"At issue here is whether the courts have any meaningful role to play in protecting Americans' privacy from Executive branch abuses of its surveillance powers," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said in a press statement. "If the claim of 'state secrets' is allowed to shut down litigation, then the courts will never be able to exercise their Constitutional duty to hold the White House accountable for illegal and even unconstitutional abuses of power."

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