Not even a historic hurricane could keep the ACLU from arguing against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Supreme Court will close down tomorrow for Hurricane Sandy, but today they heard arguments in Clapper v. Amnesty International. The case will decide whether clients of the ACLU can challenge the constitutionality of FISA, a law that regulates the government’s conduct of intelligence surveillance inside the U.S.
FISA generally requires the government to seek warrants before monitoring Americans’ communications, but in 2001, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to launch a warrantless wiretapping program. Congress ratified and expanded that program in 2008, giving the NSA almost unchecked power to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and emails.
Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, argued the case against FISA this morning. Though it will likely be some time before we get a final ruling, Jaffer says he was pleased with today’s argument: “The court seemed appropriately skeptical of the government’s attempts to shield this sweeping surveillance law from meaningful judicial review,” he said. “The justices seemed appropriately sympathetic to lawyers, journalists and human rights researchers who are forced to take burdensome precautionary measures because of the law."
The ACLU isn’t just fighting FISA in the courts, though. For more information about the law and what we’re doing to help fix it, visit http://www.aclu.org/national-security/fix-fisa-end-warrantless-wiretapping.