PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

ACLU vs. NSA: Standing to Challenge NSA Warrantless Wiretapping

Standing 01

In ACLU v. NSA, –F.3d — (6th Cir. 2007), a panel from the 6th Circuit held that the ACLU and other plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the Bush Administration’s warrantless wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). NYT coverage is here. According to the sketchy details known about the program, the court noted, […]

Councilman: Just What Does it Take for a Law to Be Vague?

Wiretap

To nobody’s surprise, my colleague and electronic surveillance law expert extraordinaire Orin Kerr at the VC beat everybody to the punch in announcing that the 1st Circuit reversed the panel in United States v. Councilman.  As Kerr concisely explains the panel decision in an earlier post:

How Private is Our Email? Councilman’s unfinished business

Privacy of Email - Councilman

In United States v. Councilman, a 1st Circuit panel held that email intercepted contemporaneously with its transmission did not fall under the protections of the Wiretap Act.  The case went en banc and an opinion has yet to issue.  Orin Kerr at the VC just wrote a post about recent developments about the issue.   He writes: Congress has […]