ACLU Challenges Wiretapping Law

Having kept its targets secret, the feds claim the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the law

Today, we filed our brief with the Supreme Court in our lawsuit challenging the FISA Amendments Act, the 2008 law that ratified and expanded the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – FISA – is a post-Watergate statute that was meant to rein in and regulate domestic surveillance undertaken in the name of national security. In 2008, Congress amended the statute, giving the National Security Agency unprecedented power to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans' international communications. The ACLU immediately challenged the law, but the government has tried to keep our case out of court.