ALAWON v11n0073 (September 11, 2002)
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ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 11, Number 73
September 11, 2002

In This Issue: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Oversight

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing September 10 on oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the 1978 law governing electronic surveillance and physical search of persons suspected of engaging in foreign intelligence or international terrorism within the United States.

The hearing followed the release last month of an extraordinary secret court ruling that rejected the government's interpretation of the law's provisions, as modified by the USA Patriot Act.  A Justice Department appeal of that ruling was heard behind closed doors on September 9 by a secret appeals court, which had never had occasion to meet before.

"Over the last two decades the FISA process has occurred largely in secret," said Sen. Patrick Leahy at the hearing.  "Clearly, specific investigations must be kept secret, but even the basic facts about the FISA process have been resistant to sunlight.... Even the most general information on FISA surveillance, including how often FISA surveillance targets American citizens, or how often FISA surveillance is used in a criminal cases, is unknown to the public."

In support of the oversight function, Senator Leahy said that he,
Senator Specter and Senator Grassley had written to the FISA appeals court to request an unclassified copy of the September 9 oral argument before the court as well as its pending ruling.

The September 10 Judiciary Committee hearing offered thoughtful
testimony about the original intent of the FISA, its recent
modifications, and possible reforms.  The witnesses' prepared
statements are posted here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/index.html 

A complete set of FISA Annual Reports since 1979, noting the volume of surveillance and search activity, is posted here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/index.html#rept 



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