The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 35      September 24, 2007

 
Judge rules against part of Patriot Act
 
BY DOUG NELSON  
A federal judge ruled unconstitutional a part of the USA Patriot Act that gives the FBI broad powers to secretly demand that communications companies turn over Internet, e-mail, and phone records of individuals. The decision was suspended to allow the government time to appeal.

The September 6 decision by Judge Victor Marrero concerns a provision of the 2001 law that significantly relaxed the rules on the use of “national security letters” (NSLs). These are secret subpoenas that have been used by spy agencies since 1986 to access individuals’ private records from banks, credit bureaus, and communications companies. They don’t require a warrant.

The judge’s ruling did not challenge the use of NSLs, but said the law should be amended. Allowing the FBI to impose permanent gag orders on companies it subpoenas for information violates free speech, he ruled. Marrero suggested instead that, if a company challenges an NSL, the gag order stand for a limited period while the case is reviewed in court. Currently, disclosing an NSL’s existence to anyone but the recipient’s lawyer carries a penalty of five years in prison.

Implementation of Marrero’s 2004 ruling against the NSL provision of the Patriot Act was also suspended. As the government’s appeal was in process, Congress amended the law, voiding the ruling. The amendments allowed for limited judicial review and required the FBI to state that a permanent gag order is necessary in each case—a little more paperwork.

Jameel Jaffer, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case against the government, called the 2005 amendments “purely cosmetic.”

The FBI’s use of the secret subpoenas ballooned after the USA Patriot Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2001. According to FBI records, 8,500 NSLs were issued in 2000. This figure jumped to an average of 47,700 a year from 2003 to 2005.

Because more than one NSL can be issued for an individual, the FBI reports that about 52,000 people were spied on using NSLs during this three-year period. A U.S. Department of Justice review this year, however, found thousands more unreported NSLs.

The Patriot Act built on the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and other “antiterrorism” bills. It gave wider latitude to the FBI and other spy agencies to conduct espionage and disruption operations within the United States, carry out arbitrary searches and seizures in private homes and businesses, and jail immigrants virtually indefinitely without charges  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home