California District Court Enjoins Issuance of National Security Letters
This could be a very big deal... Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a 24-page opinion striking down 18 U.S.C.
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This could be a very big deal... Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a 24-page opinion striking down 18 U.S.C. §§ 2709(c) and 3511(b)--the provisions that prohibit the recipients of "national security letters" from disclosing the fact that they received an NSL (or the contents thereof) and that provide recipients with a minimal opportunity to seek judicial review of NSLs, respectively--on First Amendment and separation of powers grounds. (Kim Zetter from Wired has more details here; Jen Valentino-DeVries published a very long story on the background to this case last summer in the Wall Street Journal.)
Judge Illston's injunction (which she stayed for 90 days to allow the government to pursue an appeal) bars the government from "issuing NSLs under § 2709 or from enforcing the nondisclosure provision in this or any other case."
I hope to have more to say on the merits of Judge Illston's analysis over the weekend. For now, though, wow...
Steve Vladeck is a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law. A 2004 graduate of Yale Law School, Steve clerked for Judge Marsha Berzon on the Ninth Circuit and Judge Rosemary Barkett on the Eleventh Circuit. In addition to serving as a senior editor of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, Steve is also the co-editor of Aspen Publishers’ leading National Security Law and Counterterrorism Law casebooks.
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