By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – On 8 October 2014, the United States Court of Appeals addressed a lawsuit challenging the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ability to force Internet and telecommunications firms to produce customer records without revealing the reasoning behind the governments demand.
At the hearing, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit considered the First Amendment as it relates to national security matters. A lower court in San Francisco, previously reviewed the question of whether recipients of national security letters can discuss their nature under the First Amendment. The lower court held that such gag orders by the government were unconstitutional.
The government contends that secrecy is vital to the national security of the United States, because cases dealing with such could have the potential effect of endangering an individual’s physical safety. Additionally, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Douglas Letter, stated that the FBI does not have the appropriate resources to review every case, which may have a national security interest to determine whether or not secrecy is warranted. Requiring such strict review would render the agency unable to function.
The plaintiff in the case before the 9th Circuit, claimed that the FBI’s gag order surrounding national security letters represents an “unprecedented grant of authority” and violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. Other tech companies have also filed suit against the government regarding how much information the companies can disclose about government surveillance. The companies include: Google Inc., Microsoft Corp, Facebook Inc., and Twitter Inc.
Judge Sandra Ikuta, who sat on the 9th circuit panel, states that the law may not violate the Frist Amendment right to free speech because the government only sought secrecy for information that impacts national security, it does not prohibit speech about information someone received independently.
For more information, please see the following:
BUSINESS INSIDER – U.S. Court To Hear Appeal Over Keeping U.S. Demands For Telecom Records Secret – 8 Oct. 2014.
REUTERS – Update 1 – Appeals Court Wrestles With Secret U.S. Demands For Telecom Records – 8 Oct. 2014.
REUTERS – U.S. Court To Hear Appeal Over Keeping U.S. Demands For Telecom Records Secret – 8 Oct. 2014.
YAHOO NEWS – Appeals Court Wrestles With Secret U.S. Demands For Telecom Records – 8 Oct. 2014.
