Judge Strikes Down Parts Of Patriot Act

[Luke Hodiak]

Judge Strikes Down Parts Of Patriot Act



Quote

"It is the province of the courts to say what the law is. When Congress attempts to curtail or supersede this role, [it] endangers the very foundations of our constitutional system."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero


(CBS/AP) A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional Thursday, saying courts must be allowed to supervise cases where the government orders Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said the government orders must be subject to meaningful judicial review and that the recently rewritten Patriot Act "offends the fundamental constitutional principles of checks and balances and separation of powers."

The law had been challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, which complained that the revised law allowed the FBI to demand records without the kind of court order required for other government searches.

The ACLU said it was improper to issue so-called national security letters, or NSLs - investigative tools used by the FBI to compel businesses to turn over customer information - without a judge's order or grand jury subpoena. Examples of such businesses include Internet service providers, telephone companies and public libraries.

"The good news for civil libertarians is that the ruling puts this part of the Patriot Act into doubt," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "The bad news is that the ruling almost certainly will be appealed to more conservative judges and that even if they also say the law goes too far, Congress retains the right to step back in again and tweak the rules.

"The issue is far from a novel one - who gets to decide what companies can say to their customers when the government forces those companies to turn over certain records? Does a judge get to decide or do federal law enforcement agents? It's a question that has been debated since before 9/11," Cohen said.

Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case for the ACLU, said, "We're very pleased with the decision."

He said the revised law had wrongly given the FBI sweeping authority to control speech because the agency was allowed to decide on its own - without court review - whether a company receiving an NSL had to remain silent or whether it could reveal to its customers that it was turning over records.

Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said the government had no immediate comment on the ruling.

In 2004, ruling on the initial version of the Patriot Act, the judge said the letters violate the Constitution because they amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. He found that the nondisclosure requirement - under which an Internet service provider, for instance, would not be allowed to tell customers that it was turning over their records to the government - violated free speech.

After he ruled, Congress revised the Patriot Act in 2005, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed that Marrero review the law's constitutionality a second time.

Marrero originally ruled in a case pertaining to an unidentified Internet service provider that received one of the letters, in which the FBI claimed that phone or Internet records were "relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."

The ACLU complained that Congress' revision of the NSL law didn't go far enough to protect people because the government could still order companies to turn over their records, and remain silent about it, if the FBI determined that the case involved national security.

The judge said the way the law was written "reflects an attempt by Congress and the executive to infringe upon the judiciary's designated role under the Constitution."

He added: "It is axiomatic that in our system of government it is the province of the courts to say what the law is. When Congress attempts to curtail or supersede this role, it jeopardizes the delicate balance of powers among the three branches of government and endangers the very foundations of our constitutional system."



© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/06/national/main3239336.shtml

[Luke Hodiak]

Cheney Defends Spying On Bank Records
VP Calls Defense Dept. and CIA Secret Access To Americans' Bank Records "Legitimate"




(CBS/AP)


Quote

"It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn't violate people's civil rights.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vice President Dick Cheney

WHAT DO YOU THINK?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go To Comments
 
 
(CBS/AP) Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people's rights by examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.

But Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the new Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said his panel will be the judge of that.

The military and the CIA have been using a little-known power to get the banking records of hundreds of Americans and others in the United States suspected of terrorism, the New York Times first reported on Saturday.

Citing anonymous intelligence officials, the Times said that the Pentagon and the CIA have been issuing "national security letters" to financial institutions to gain access to bank records.

National security letters permit the executive branch to seek records about people in terrorism and spy investigations without a judge's approval or grand jury subpoena.

"The Department of Defense has legitimate authority in this area. This is an authority that goes back three or four decades. It was reaffirmed in the Patriot Act," Cheney said. "It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn't violate people's civil rights."

"The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets," he said on Fox News Sunday.

In a statement Sunday, Reyes promised that his panel would take a careful look at those claims.

"Any expansion by the department into intelligence collection, particularly on U.S. soil, is something our committee will thorough review," Reyes said.

"We want our intelligence professionals to have strong tools that will enable them to interrupt the planning process of our enemies and to stop attacks against our country," he said. "But in doing so, we also want those tools to comply fully with the law and the Constitution."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is the U.S. agency designated for domestic counterterrorism activities, has issued thousands of national security letters, or NSLs, which compel companies or individuals to turn over information. The FBI does not need a warrant to obtain information if they issue a NSL.

The letters have generated criticism and court challenges from civil liberties advocates who claim they invade the privacy of Americans' lives, even though banks and other financial institutions typically turn over the financial records voluntarily.

The Pentagon and CIA versions of the NSLs are "noncompulsory," according to the Times report, but companies receiving the letters usually turn over the requested information voluntarily.

In 2005, the FBI used NSLs to secretly seek information on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks, credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, according to the Justice Department.

The FBI delivered a total of 9,254 NSLs relating to 3,501 people that year, according to a report submitted in April, 2006 to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. In some cases, the bureau demanded information about one person from several companies.

The Pentagon and the CIA are forbidden from traditional law enforcement roles in the United States. The Bush administration has tried since September 11, 2001 to expand the domestic surveillance powers of both agencies.

Congressional officials told the Times that members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed on the expanded use of the letters.

The letters "provide tremendous leads to follow and often with which to corroborate other evidence in the context of counterespionage and counterterrorism," said Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Times.

CIA officials told the Times that the agency issues a handful of national security letters each year.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/13/terror/main2358881.shtml