American Civil Liberties Union

(Formerly Amnesty et al. v. McConnell)

RESOURCES
	Plaintiffs' Bios
	Why the FAA is Unconstitutional
	FISA Timeline
	More About FISA
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In July 2008, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008, giving the National Security Agency (NSA) virtually limitless power to spy on Americans' international phone calls and emails. This controversial piece of legislation not only effectively legalized the secret warrantless surveillance program that President Bush had authorized in late 2001, it gave the NSA new power to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans' international telephone calls and e-mails en masse, without a warrant, without suspicion of any kind, and with only very limited judicial oversight.

Less than twenty-four-hours after the bill was signed into law by President Bush the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the sweeping new spying power established by the FAA. The case, Amnesty v. Blair, was filed on behalf of a broad coalition of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose work requires them to engage in sensitive and sometimes privileged telephone and e-mail communications with individuals located outside the United States.

Timeline
July 2008: FISA Amendments Act of 2008 is signed into law by President Bush. The ACLU files a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging the constitutionality of the new law.

August 2009: The district court dismisses the lawsuit on "standing" grounds because plaintiffs could not prove with certainty that they had been spied on. The court's legal analysis would have the effect of placing the FAA – and other broad surveillance laws – permanently beyond the scope of judicial review.

October 2009: The ACLU appeals the district court's dismissal of the lawsuit.

December 2009: The ACLU files its principal brief on appeal.  "Friend-of-the-court" briefs in support of the ACLU are filed by the Brennan Center and other civil liberties and privacy groups; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and a coalition of law professors.