Category Archives: FISA

Reason: Congress Renews Warrantless Digital Spying Program until April

Reason: Congress Renews Warrantless Digital Spying Program as Part of $886 Billion Spending Bill (“Section 702 will continue until April, when Congress will have another shot at seriously reforming a program that desperately needs it.”)

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NYT: Talks on Surveillance Law Simmer as Its Expiration Date Looms

NYT: Talks on Surveillance Law Simmer as Its Expiration Date Looms by Charlie Savage (“Negotiations in Congress over a warrantless surveillance law are intensifying as it nears its expiration date. The debate has come during what national security officials say … Continue reading

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WaPo: This FISA provision goes beyond terrorism. It’s vital to beating the opioid crisis.

WaPo: This FISA provision goes beyond terrorism. It’s vital to beating the opioid crisis. by Rahul Gupta (“The U.S. government’s bedrock authority for staying ahead of international threats is about to expire. As the White House director of national drug … Continue reading

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WaPo: U.S. warrant requirement for surveillance program could hamper cyber cases, FBI official warns

WaPo: U.S. warrant requirement for surveillance program could hamper cyber cases, FBI official warns (“A top FBI official said Wednesday that a warrant requirement being floated for a controversial expiring surveillance program would be a big impediment to cyber investigations. … Continue reading

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TechStory: FBI searched data of millions of Americans without warrants

TechStory: FBI searched data of millions of Americans without warrants by Disha Mitra (“These specific ‘queries’ were reportedly made somewhere between December 2020 and November 2021 by the FBI personnel. Apparently, they were looking for indications of threats and terrorists … Continue reading

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ABA: An Unclassified Look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts

ABA: An Unclassified Look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts by Hon. Richard C. Tallman and Tania M. Culbertson, ABA Litigation, vol. 48, No. 2 (Winter 2022) (“They have recently become more transparent, but practicing before these specialty courts presents … Continue reading

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CA10 explains nondomestic FISA surveillance in easy detail

For a detailed explanation of nondomestic FISA activities and phone call surveillance, see United States v. Muhtorov, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 36170 (10th Cir. Dec. 8, 2021) (No warrant or court order is required to surveil foreign persons’ conversations outside … Continue reading

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techdirt: FISA Court Says FBI May Be Abusing Surveillance Powers; Will Continue To Allow It To Abuse Surveillance Powers

techdirt: FISA Court Says FBI May Be Abusing Surveillance Powers; Will Continue To Allow It To Abuse Surveillance Powers by Tim Cushing (“Reform efforts following the Snowden leaks led to some minor improvements at the FISA Court. The USA Freedom … Continue reading

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Reason: Did the Ninth Circuit Create a New Fourth Amendment Notice Requirement for Surveillance Practices?

Reason: Did the Ninth Circuit Create a New Fourth Amendment Notice Requirement for Surveillance Practices? by Orin S. Kerr (“An overlooked part of United States v. Moalin could have a major impact on surveillance law.”)

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CA9: Bulk data collection under FISA violates 4A and defs were entitled to notice of it; no exclusion, however

Bulk data collection under FISA violated the Fourth Amendment. A criminal defendant is entitled to notice of FISA collection. However, exclusion not applied in this case because defendants weren’t prejudiced. United States v. Moalin, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 28119 (9th … Continue reading

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NYT: House to Vote on Limiting FBI Power to Collect Americans’ Internet Data NYTimes: House to Vote on Limiting F.B.I. Power to Collect Americans’ Internet Data by Charlie Savage (“Lawmakers compromised on an ambiguously worded amendment that narrows a failed … Continue reading

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NYTimes: How National Security Surveillance Nabs More Than Spies

NYTimes: How National Security Surveillance Nabs More Than Spies (“The case against Nassif Sami Daher and Kamel Mohammad Rammal, two Michigan men accused of food stamp fraud, hardly seemed exceptional. But the tool that agents used to investigate them was … Continue reading

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NYTimes: Court Bans Agents Who Botched Carter Page Surveillance From Seeking Wiretaps

NYTimes: Court Bans Agents Who Botched Carter Page Surveillance From Seeking Wiretaps by Charlie Savage (“An opinion and ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court also accepts a series of reforms the F.B.I. said it would make following a damning … Continue reading

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techdirt: FBI And DOJ Personnel Confirm Agents Frequently Fudge Facts When Seeking FISA Warrants

techdirt: FBI And DOJ Personnel Confirm Agents Frequently Fudge Facts When Seeking FISA Warrants by Tim Cushing:

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FISC: Govt admits material misstatements in FISA applications for Carter Page, and it is preparing a report for 1/28

The government admits material misstatements in FISA applications for Carter Page, and it is preparing a report for submission January 28, 2020). In re Page, No. 16-1182, 17-52, 17-375, 17-679 (Jan. 7, 2020, unclassified Jan. 23, 2020). See CNN: Government … Continue reading

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The Federalist: The FISA Court Is Complicit In The FBI Abuses It’s Raising Cain Over

The Federalist: The FISA Court Is Complicit In The FBI Abuses It’s Raising Cain Over by Margot Cleveland:

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The Daily Beast: The Surveillance State Quietly Lost a Major Court Case

The Daily Beast: The Surveillance State Quietly Lost a Major Court Case by Spencer Ackerman (“The feds have a habit of rifling without a warrant through NSA data warehouses to find dirt on American citizens. An appeals court ruling may … Continue reading

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CA2: FISA violation or not? Case remanded for fact finding on whether def’s calls were reasonably collected

Defendant pled to attempting to provide support to a terrorist organization. After the plea, the government disclosed it’s prosecution derived from the warrantless obtaining of his phone calls under § 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. He successfully … Continue reading

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CNS News: What the Progressive Socialist Left Is Really Saying

CNS News: What the Progressive Socialist Left Is Really Saying by Allen West: These same individuals, leftists, aided by their complicit media accomplices, see nothing wrong with the violation of Fourth Amendment individual rights by a secret court, especially if … Continue reading

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CNN: Attorney General Barr defends surveillance tool as Republican scrutiny grows

CNN: Attorney General Barr defends surveillance tool as Republican scrutiny grows by David Shortell (“Attorney General William Barr called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act a ‘critical tool’ and vowed to preserve it Wednesday after suggestions from Republican lawmakers that the … Continue reading

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