Nsl Patriot Act National Security Research Proposal

The courts found that the FBI had shown a marked tendency to issue gag orders arbitrarily -- "a March 2008 Office of Inspector General (OIG) report revealed that, among other abuses, the FBI misused NSLs to sidestep the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). In one instance, the FBI issued NSLs to obtain information after the FISC twice refused its requests on First Amendment grounds. The OIG also found that the FBI continues to impose gag orders on about 97% of NSL recipients and that, in some cases, the FBI failed to sufficiently justify why the gag orders were imposed in the first place" (Courts, 2008, ACLU). Its use of NSLs thus showed cavalier disregard for the First Amendment and made itself unaccountable to the public

Benjamin Franklin once said that those who would sacrifice their liberty for their security deserve neither. This temptation can be seen in the history of the Patriot Act and Congress' willingness to allow the executive branch the authority to look into the private records of citizens, without a warrant or probable cause, in violation of the Fourth Amendment, simply because of vague suspicions -- and then, to 'gag' the recipient from revealing this in violation of the First Amendment. The one heartening thing about the sad story of NSLs and the American justice system is that justice has prevailed, and aspects of the Patriot Act in flagrant violation of the Constitution have been struck down by courageous judges, willing to make what can be politically unpopular decisions to preserve our liberties. At present, it is uncertain as to how the Obama Administration will use NSLs but one thing is clear -- citizens and civil libertarian organizations will continue to fight against the Patriot Act's violations of the Bill of Rights.

Works Cited

Court rules Patriot Act's "National Security Letter" gag provisions unconstitutional. (2008,

December 15). ACLU. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/38113prs20081215.html

Egan, Dan. (2007, September 7). Judge invalidates Patriot Act provisions: FBI is told to halt warrantless tactic. The Washington Post. A01. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090601438.html

National Security Letters. (2009). ACLU. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nationalsecurityletters/index.html

Paul, Ryan. (2007, September 6). NSL provision in Patriot Act struck down by federal court.

Ars Technia. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2007/09/patriot-act-provision-struck-down-by-federal-court.ars

Schuman, Daniel. (2008). National Security Letters & Section 215 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act.

The 2009 Liberty & Security Transition Coalition. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://2009transition.org/liberty-security/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=22

Singel, Ryan (2008, May 7). FBI targets Internet Archive with secret 'National Security Letter', loses. Wired. Retrieved April 1, 2009 at http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/internet-archiv.html