Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the government for the release of documents about the implementation of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Amendments Act of 2008, an unconstitutional law that gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to collect Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls in dragnet fashion, without a warrant and without suspicion of any wrongdoing.In November 2009, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records related to the government's interpretation and implementation of the FISA Amendments Act, including reports and assessments mandated by the law concerning how the FISA Amendments law is being used, how many Americans are affected by this sweeping spying regime, and what safeguards are in place to prevent abuse of Americans' constitutional rights.
Because the government did not release any of the records requested, the ACLU was forced to file suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in order to obtain the records. According to the complaint,
news reports suggest that the government has used its FISA Amendment Act [FAA] powers to collect U.S. citizens' and residents' international communications by the millions and has used the FAA improperly to collect purely domestic communications as well.The lawsuit alleges that the requested records are needed to enable informed public debate about whether the FISA Amendments - which expire in 2012 - should be repealed, amended or extended.
Melissa Goodman, staff attorney at the ACLU, commented: "Despite being in operation for nearly two years, the American public is largely in the dark about how the controversial FISA Amendments Act has been implemented in practice.The public has a right to know how the government is using, and possibly abusing, an intrusive surveillance power that implicates the privacy and speech rights of all U.S. citizens and residents."
The lawsuit, formally filed as a Complaint for Injunctive Relief, is available here.
