[governance] Fwd: [New post] Government to Release Hundreds of Documents Related to NSA Surveillance

Thu Sep 5 16:32:30 EDT 2013

*BRAVO EFF*

Louis
- - -

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 2:07 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh at hserus.net>wrote:

> *From:* Threatpost <donotreply at wordpress.com>
> *Date:* 5 September 2013 17:21:16 IST
> *To:* suresh at hserus.net
> *Subject:* *[New post] Government to Release Hundreds of Documents
> Related to NSA Surveillance*
>
>   Dennis Fisher posted: "In response to a lawsuit by the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation, the Department of Justice is preparing to release a
> trove of documents related to the government's secret interpretation of
> Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. The declassified documents will inc"
>       New post on *Threatpost*
> <http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/?author=12>  Government to
> Release Hundreds of Documents Related to NSA Surveillance<http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/government-to-release-hundreds-of-documents-related-to-nsa-surveillance/102177> by
> Dennis Fisher <http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/?author=12>
>
> In response to a lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the
> Department of Justice is preparing to release a trove of documents related
> to the government's secret interpretation of Section 215 of the PATRIOT
> Act. The declassified documents will include previously secret opinions of
> the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
>
> The decision by the Justice Department to release the documents is the
> second legal victory in recent weeks for the EFF related to the National
> Security Agency's intelligence collection programs. In August, the group
> won the release of a 2011 FISC opinion<https://threatpost.com/declassified-2011-fisc-opinion-shows-court-found-some-nsa-surveillance-unconstitutional/102059>that revealed that the court ruled that some of the NSA's collection
> programs were illegal and unconstitutional. The newest decision will result
> in the release of hundreds of pages of documents related to the way the
> government has been interpreting Section 215, which is the measure upon
> which some of the NSA's surveillance programs are based.
>
> In a status report released Wednesday regarding the EFF's suit against the
> Department of Justice, attorneys for the government said that they will
> release the documents by Sept. 10.
>
> "Orders and opinions of the FISC issued from January 1, 2004, to June 6,
> 2011, that contain a significant legal interpretation of the government’s
> authority or use of its authority under Section 215; and responsive
> 'significant documents, procedures, or legal analyses incorporated into
> FISC opinions or orders and treated as binding by the Department of Justice
> or the National Security Agency'," the status report<https://www.eff.org/document/justice-department-status-report-re-releasing-secret-patriot-act-interpretation-documents>says.
>
> It's not clear at this point exactly what the documents to be released
> will contain or how much of the information will be redacted. But the
> decision by the government to release the documents counts as a major
> milestone in the lawsuit against the Justice Department over the use of
> Section 215.
>
> "While we applaud the government for finally releasing the opinions, it is
> not simply a case of magnanimity. The Justice Department is releasing this
> information because a court has ordered it to do so in response to EFF’s
> FOIA lawsuit, which was filed on the tenth anniversary of the enactment of
> the Patriot Act—nearly two years ago," Trevor Timm of the EFF<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/hundreds-pages-nsa-spying-documents-be-released-result-eff-lawsuit>said.
>
> "For most of the duration of the lawsuit, the government fought tooth and
> nail to keep every page of its interpretations secret, even once arguing
> it should not even<http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/govt-wont-even-give-page-counts-of-secret-patriot-act-documents/> be
> compelled to release the *number of pages* that their opinions consisted
> of. It was not until the start of the release of documents leaked by NSA
> whistleblower Edward Snowden that the government’s position became
> untenable and the court ordered the government to begin the
> declassification review process."
>
> In another development related to the NSA's intelligence-gathering
> capabilities and methods, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), the lead author
> of the PATRIOT Act, submitted an amicus brief in support of the American
> Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit against the NSA over the agency's methods.
>
> "I stand by the Patriot Act and support the specific targeting of
> terrorists by our government, but the proper balance has not been struck
> between civil rights and American security," said Sensenbrenner. "A large,
> intrusive government-however benevolent it claims to be-is not immune from
> the simple truth that centralized power threatens liberty. Americans are
> increasingly wary that Washington is violating the privacy rights
> guaranteed to us by the Fourth Amendment."
>
>
>   *Dennis Fisher <http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/?author=12>*| September 5, 2013 at 7:51 am | URL:
> http://wp.me/p3AjUX-qA1
>
>  Comment<http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/government-to-release-hundreds-of-documents-related-to-nsa-surveillance/102177#respond>
>    See all comments<http://kasperskycontenthub.com/threatpost/government-to-release-hundreds-of-documents-related-to-nsa-surveillance/102177#comments>
>
>
>
>
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