Intelligence Court Releases Opinion Upholding Broad Wiretap Law
Updated: A federal intelligence court released an opinion today upholding the power of Congress to authorize wiretaps of international communications with a broad court order.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review issued the secret decision in August, and a redacted version was released today, the New York Times reports.
The opinion upholds a secret ruling last year by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that held Congress acted within its authority when it gave the government broad wiretapping power under the Protect America Act passed in 2007, the Times reported before the opinion was released, quoting a person knowledgeable with the opinion. The temporary law, in effect for six months, allowed broad warrants to wiretap foreign targets in large batches if their communications passed through U.S. telecommunications networks. Individual warrants were not required.
The ruling came in response to a challenge by an unidentified telecommunications company that refused to turn over international communications without court approval, the story says.
The temporary law was later replaced with a new law that also allowed the international wiretaps but provided additional safeguards.
Updated at 1:50 p.m. to indicate that the decision was released and to correct that the decision was issued in August.
