My, my. Will wonders never cease.
A federal district court judge today struck down a provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows the FBI to issue secret administrative subpoenas to Internet service providers and others without judicial review.
Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in the case of John Doe et al v. John Ashcroft et al that the government does not have the authority to cloak the national security letters it issues to seek electronic information in perpetual secrecy without judicial review.
Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said, "We are reviewing the ruling." The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the anonymous Doe, cited the decision as "a stunning victory against John Ashcroft's Justice Department."
Marrero stayed the execution of his order barring the FBI from issuing national security letters for 90 days or until the government appeals.
ACLU vs Ashcroft (Actual Ruling: very slow loading and quite large 122-page PDF file at the ACLU web site)
It will be fascinating to see what comes of this. Ashcroft's Star Chamber will appeal, of course; they've go no reason not to, and every reason to try to get this ruling off the books. One can but hope that federal courts up the line will agree that this is an unconstitutional restraint and continue to strike that part of the law.
Of course, with Congress poised to pass PATRIOT Act: The Sequel, it's likely that the various plaintiffs in PATRIOT Act cases everywhere will have to go through everything all over again.
One wonders what Congress and Ashcroft are so afraid of that they feel that they need to destroy the Constitution they are charged to uphold.
Posted by iain at September 29, 2004 05:22 PM
