Elizabeth Goitein co-directs the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. She previously served as counsel to Senator Russ Feingold on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.
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In a Lawfare post on April 25, Bobby Chesney criticizes a New York Times editorial that opined that the Corker-Kaine AUMF could be used to attack Iran or North Korea. Because this part of the editorial linked to my op-ed in Defense One, Chesney focuses on my analysis.
The legislative debate over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has ended with passage of a six-year reauthorization that omitted many of the provisions privacy advocates had argued were necessary. But the legal and policy debate is likely to continue in the U.S. and in European courts.
We took different positions in the overall debate on Section 702. But we agree that there is an important step the U.S. government can take now to bolster transparency and accountability within the program without unduly burdening legitimate intelligence activities.
This piece is part of a series on Tim Edgar's new book, "Beyond Snowden."
It is clear that the Second Circuit’s ruling that the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act will have significant implications for the current legislative debate over whether and how to reauthorize Section 215. What those implications are, however, is less clear. I’ve attempted here to map out the decision’s effect on existing legislative options.
The Decision
First, a brief summary of the court’s reasoning.
Our friend Carrie Cordero has levied criticisms against three of the recommendations presented in our report, What Went Wrong With the FISA Court. We appreciate, as always, her constructive engagement with us on these issues.