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ADC Press Release:
In Legal First, Groups Urge High Court to Review Secret Court
Ruling on Government Spying
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NEW YORK, February 18 - In an
unprecedented legal move, a coalition of civil liberties and
Arab-American groups today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review an
extraordinary decision by a secret appeals court that broadly
expanded the government's powers to spy on U.S. citizens.
The case offers the first opportunity for the Justices to consider
government actions in the wake of September 11 that severely
restrict civil liberties in the name of national security.
"On behalf of all Americans, we are urging the Supreme Court to
reject the extreme notion that Attorney General Ashcroft can suspend
the ordinary requirements of the Fourth Amendment to listen in on
phone calls, read e-mails, and conduct secret searches of Americans
'homes and offices," said
Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties
Union.
The ACLU filed the appeal together with the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination CCommittee(ADC) and the Arab Community Center
for Economic and Social Services(ACCESS), a Michigan-based
organization.
At issue in the case-which has focused a spotlight on the
ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court-is whether the
Constitution and the USA PATRIOT Act adopted by Congress permit the
government to use looser foreign intelligence standards to conduct
surveillance in criminal investigations in the United States.
Today's request also gives the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to
review for the first time the constitutionality of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act(FISA, originally enacted in 1978.
The groups said in legal papers that they believe their members and
many other Americans are currently subject to illegal surveillance,
noting that the FBI has already targeted its members in numerous
ways. For example, the FBI recently ordered its field offices to
count the number of mosques and
Muslims in their areas in order to establish their surveillance
priorities.
"We do not enter into this litigation lightly; we firmly
believe that these expanded powers erode the functionality and
checks and balances of our judicial system," said Ziad J. Asali,
M.D., President of ADC.
The FISA court and the Court of Review were created under a federal
law intended to authorize government wiretaps in foreign
intelligence investigations. Under FISA procedures, all hearings and
decisions are conducted in secret. The government is normally the
only party to FISA proceedings and the only party that can appeal to
the Supreme Court.
In a separate motion that accompanied the request for a review of
the lower court decision, the groups argued that they should be
allowed to appeal the historic decision even though they were not
parties in the lower court proceedings.
"These fundamental issues should not be finally adjudicated by
courts that sit in secret, do not ordinarily publish their
decisions, and allow only the government to appear before
them," the groups said in their papers.
The FISA Court of Review's November 2002 ruling-the first in its
history-overturned an earlier unanimous decision of the lower FISA
court rejecting the Justice Department's bid for broader
surveillance powers. In its May 2002 decision, the FISA court
documented numerous surveillance abuses, including serious errors in
approximately 75 applications for foreign surveillance.
Today's legal challenge comes just days after reports that the
Justice Department is seeking yet another massive legislative
expansion of its powers. The proposed legislation goes even further
than the USA PATRIOT Act in eroding checks and balances on
Presidential power and encouraging police
spying on political and religious activities.
Attorneys in the case are Beeson, Jameel Jaffer and Steven Shapiro
of the ACLU and Joshua L. Dratel, John D. Cline and Tom Goldstein of
NACDL, acting on behalf of their organizations and as counsel to ADC
and ACCESS.
The case is In Re: Sealed Case Of The Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court Of Review No. 02-001.
The Motion to Intervene is online at
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=11839&c=200
The Petition of Certiorari is online at
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=11837&c=200
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