The DoJ is asking the Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision that said a 2008 lawsuit brought by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups against amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) could move ahead.
The FISA amendments codified into law the Bush administration’s surveillance program undertaken after of 9/11, a program that included warrantless eavesdropping by the National Security Agency (NSA) on conversations between US citizens as long as one of the parties was located outside the US.
A lower court ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing because they could not demonstrate that they were subject to the eavesdropping. The appellate court overturned the lower court ruling.
“The appeals court correctly ruled that our plaintiffs have standing to challenge this sweeping surveillance law, and it’s disappointing that the administration is challenging that ruling. It’s crucial that the government’s surveillance activities be subject to constitutional limits, but the administration’s argument would effectively insulate the most intrusive surveillance programs from judicial review. The Supreme Court should leave the appeals court’s ruling in place and allow our constitutional challenge to proceed”, said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, in response to the DoJ’s effort.