The NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Cases
Cases and Court:
- Jewel v. National Security Agency (N.D. Cal.).
- In re National Sec. Agency Telecom. Records Litig. (N.D. Cal.).
- Hepting v. AT&T Corp. (N.D. Cal.).
Background:
In the fall of 2001, President Bush signed an Executive Order permitting the National Security Agency to intercept certain domestic communications of American citizens. These interceptions were made without a warrant and without adhering to the procedures set forth in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. These communications included a substantial amount of Internet traffic.
In 2005, the New York Times revealed the existence of this program. Shortly thereafter, a former AT&T engineer named Mark Klein came forward with evidence that the AT&T facility at 600 Folsom Street in San Francisco contained equipment which handed off AT&T customer communications to the NSA. Continue Reading »