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liberty2897
08-21-2013, 08:27 PM
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/eff-victory-results-expected-release-secret-court-opinion-finding-nsa-surveillance



AUGUST 21, 2013 | BY MARK RUMOLD
EFF Victory Results in Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional

Update: In response to EFF's FOIA lawsuit, the government has released the 2011 FISA court opinion ruling some NSA surveillance unconstitutional.

For over a year, EFF has been fighting the government in federal court to force the public release of an 86-page opinion of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Issued in October 2011, the secret court's opinion found that surveillance conducted by the NSA under the FISA Amendments Act was unconstitutional and violated "the spirit of"¯ federal law.

Today, EFF can declare victory: a federal court ordered the government to release records in our litigation, the government has indicated it intends to release the opinion today, and ODNI has called a 3:00 ET press conference to discuss "issues" with FISA Amendments Act surveillance, which we assume will include a discussion of the opinion.

It remains to be seen how much of the opinion the government will actually make available to the public. President Obama has repeatedly said he welcomes a debate on the NSA's surveillance: disclosing this opinion—and releasing enough of it so that citizens and advocates can intelligently debate the constitutional violation that occurred—is a critical step in ensuring that an informed debate takes place.

Here are examples of documents previously released by the administration in response to our Freedom of Information Act request. Anything even resembling those "releases" would be utterly unacceptable today. But we've come a long way since then—it took filing a lawsuit; litigating (and winning) in the FISC itself; the unprecedented public release of information about NSA surveillance activities; and our continuing efforts to push the government in the district court for release of the opinion.

Release of the opinion today is just one step in advancing a public debate on the scope and legality of the NSA's domestic surveillance programs. EFF will keep fighting until the NSA's domestic surveillance program is reined in, federal surveillance laws are amended to prevent these kinds of abuse from happening in the future, and government officials are held accountable for their actions.

links contained in article. (looks like the examples link has been redacted?)

Lucille
08-21-2013, 08:43 PM
TY! I've been waiting for this.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?423339-Video-Glenn-Greenwald-Mocks-Congressional-Oversight-of-NSA-Surveillance-Programs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=unj_72Gqj9w

1:06: One of the most amazing things in this whole episode, Martha, is there is a 2011 opinion, 86 pages long, from the FISA court that ruled that much of what the NSA is doing...is both unconstitutional--in violation of the fourth amendment--and illegal--a violation of the statute. This opinion remains a complete secret. The FISA court has said they have no objection to having it released, but the Obama admin. insists it has to be secret. ... That's extraordinary to have a court opinion ruling that our government violated the constitution and the law, and not only can't we read it but neither can our representatives in congress.

Link to the '11 opinion: https://www.eff.org/document/october-3-2011-fisc-opinion-holding-nsa-surveillance-unconstitutional

CPUd
08-21-2013, 09:35 PM
tldr: The ruling is centered on "incidental interception" of identifying information of US citizens. The court basically says, based on the documentation provided by the govt about their "minimization procedures", the controls in place do not adequately prevent unreasonable search and seizure.

susano
08-21-2013, 10:09 PM
Am I the only one who thinks the bigger issue is having a secret court at all?

jkob
08-21-2013, 10:11 PM
I don't understand how there can be secret courts either

Dr.3D
08-21-2013, 10:13 PM
Am I the only one who thinks the bigger issue is having a secret court at all?

No, I hate secret stuff too. There is way too much that can happen in secret that if put in the sunshine, would fail in the court of public opinion.

better-dead-than-fed
08-21-2013, 11:16 PM
Am I the only one who thinks the bigger issue is having a secret court at all?

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10435299198962904746:


Justice may not be done in a corner nor in any covert manner....

Without publicity, all other checks are insufficient: in comparison of publicity, all other checks are of small account. Recordation, appeal, whatever other institutions might present themselves in the character of checks, would be found to operate rather as cloaks than checks; as cloaks in reality, as checks only in appearance.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16510196517327503109:


[Publicity is] the soul of justice.

p.s. Ninth Circuit approves secret criminal trials, and Reddit admin tries to cover it up. (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?424601-Interesting-Reddit-Feature&p=5183376&viewfull=1#post5183376)

puppetmaster
08-21-2013, 11:29 PM
Sad state of affairs.