The decision marks the second time a federal court has dealt a blow to the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act, which authorizes the FBI to demand a range of personal records such as the identity of a person who has checked out books from a library or engaged in anonymous speech on the Internet. The first ruling, which also came in a case brought by the ACLU, found that the entire NSL provision was unconstitutional.
In today's decision, which has been stayed until September 20 to allow the government to appeal, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall held that the “John Doe” organization has a First Amendment right to engage in the “current and lively debate in this country over the renewal of the PATRIOT Act.”
“The [National Security Letter] statute has the practical effect of silencing those who have the most intimate knowledge of the statute's effect and a strong interest in advocating against the federal government's broad investigative powers,” wrote Judge Hall.
No comments:
Post a Comment