ACLU SEEKS TO INTERVENE IN FISA COURT PROCEEDINGS

The American Civil Liberties Union is petitioning the secretive Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court for leave to participate in future
proceedings regarding the constitutionality of government procedures
under the recent FISA Amendments Act, which expanded government
authority to conduct intelligence surveillance.

The government opposes the ACLU petition. Justice Department attorneys
wrote in a July 29 opposition motion that since the relevant procedures
are classified, "there is nothing that the ACLU could contribute to the
Court's resolution...."

The government's opposition is misplaced, the ACLU replied yesterday,
noting that it does not seek access to classified information, but only
wishes to address the constitutionality questions that are before the
Court.

"Because the FISA Amendments Act has such sweeping implications for the
rights of U.S. citizens and residents, any consideration of these issues
should be adversarial and as informed and transparent as possible," the
August 5 ACLU reply stated.

"This Court should not issue a secret opinion after hearing secret
arguments -- and from only one side," the ACLU reply said. (I am
mentioned in a footnote.)

In a separate proceeding, the ACLU is also challenging the
constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act in federal district court.

See "ACLU Challenges Unconstitutional Spying Law":

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/faachallenge.html

The pleadings submitted to the FISA Court are also copied here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/index.html#aclu2008

While it isn't Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, the famously interminable lawsuit
in Dickens' Bleak House, the current ACLU proceeding before the FISA
Court is, strangely enough, Jaffer v. Jaffer.

The lead attorney on the ACLU petition is the estimable Jameel Jaffer,
director of the ACLU's National Security Program. Among the Justice
Department attorneys opposing the ACLU petition is Jamil N. Jaffer,
Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General.