Just Security: The FISA Court’s 702 Opinions, Part I: A History of Non-Compliance Repeats Itself

Just Security: The FISA Court’s 702 Opinions, Part I: A History of Non-Compliance Repeats Itself by Elizabeth Goitein:

Last week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released three redacted opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (also known as the FISA Court) and the FISA Court of Review (FISCR). In the first opinion, the FISA Court held that the FBI’s procedures for accessing Americans’ communications that are “incidentally” collected under Section 702 of FISA violated both the statute and the Fourth Amendment. The government appealed, and in the second opinion, the FISCR upheld the FISA Court’s decision. The FBI was forced to revise its procedures to conform with the Court’s ruling, and in the third opinion, the Court approved the revised procedures.