Top 10 Civil Liberties News Stories of the Week - August 11, 2006 Edition

ACLU Challenges Reauthorized PATRIOT Act in Court

FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Photo: Copyright (c) 2006 Phil Landowski. Used by permission.

The provision permits the FBI to prohibit anyone who receives an NSL from disclosing that the FBI has sought or obtained information from them.

"The secrecy surrounding the FBI's use of national security letters is excessive and dangerous," said Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU lawyer who is lead counsel in the case. "By permitting the FBI to operate without meaningful public or judicial oversight, Congress has undermined important safeguards against abuse."

The ACLU filed the case in April 2004 on behalf of an Internet Service Provider that had received an NSL and was prohibited from disclosing that the FBI had sought information from it. In September 2004, the district court struck down the NSL provision as unconstitutional, with Judge Victor Marrero writing that "democracy abhors undue secrecy." In his landmark ruling, Judge Marrero held that indefinite gag orders imposed under the NSL law violate free speech rights protected by the First Amendment.

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