The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review – a federal appeals court that operates in almost total secrecy – has ruled that Congress acted constitutionally when it gave the government the power to order telecommunications companies to assist the U.S. intelligence community in wiretapping conducted without court-issued warrants. The electronic eavesdropping, while directed overseas, is widely believed to have extended to American citizens inside the United States.
Actually made on Aug. 22, 2008, the court’s 29-page decision (.pdf) was finally released to the public on Jan. 15, 2009, in a highly redacted version with many sections deleted for reasons of national security. Names of the telecommunications companies involved, as well as details about what the government ordered them to do, have been deleted.
In its decision, the court goes to great lengths to establish the constitutionality of the electronic eavesdropping without endorsing it or addressing the possible violations of privacy involved.
“We caution,” writes the court, “that our decision does not constitute an endorsement of broad-based, indiscriminate executive power. Rather, our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, the efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts. This is such a case.”
There is a good chance that the decision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Also See:
NSA Has Database of All US Phone Calls: Report
Bush Defends Eavesdropping, Patriot Act
How Bush Defended His Wiretaps
About America’s “Secret” Court
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