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Government Spying

Updated 08.21.08

THE GUTTING OF FISA SAFEGUARDS

For five years, on presidential orders, the National Security Agency has been reading email and tapping phones without a warrant - actions explicitly forbidden by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).

In July 2008, Congress capitulated to the White House's demands and scare tactics by passing the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, giving the NSA even more power to spy on Americans without warrants than it exercised under its illegal surveillance program.

On the same day the FAA was signed into law, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. The ACLU is asking the court to protect the privacy rights of all Americans and declare the FAA unconstitutional.

 

CHALLENGING GOVERNMENT SPYING ABUSES

With its most recent lawsuit, the ACLU continues to fight the Bush administration’s myriad expansions to domestic spying. We won the first round of our ACLU v. NSA lawsuit in 2006, in which a federal judge declared the program unconstitutional. The Sixth Circuit appeals court dismissed the case on technical grounds, while refusing to rule on the legality of the program.

Because of our lawsuits, federal courts have also ruled against Patriot Act provisions that enable abusive FBI "National Security Letter” demands for personal records. We have filed Freedom of Information Act requests on behalf of hundreds of organizations and individuals around the country to expose wrongful FBI and Pentagon spying.

Click here for more information about the ACLU’s challenge to President Bush’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program.

Resources

Top Ten Myths About the Illegal Spying on Americans

Eavesdropping 101: What Can the NSA Do?

10 Problems with the Ohio Patriot Act

10 Things You Can Do About the USA Patriot Act and the Abuse of Executive Power

Impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) - Briefing Paper

Sanctioned Bias: Racial Profiling since 9/11

Read government spying press releases and news articles in our News Center.