Judge John Bates for the AO on Leahy Surveillance Bill

Over at the Wall Street Journal, Siobhan Gorman is reporting on a new letter from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on Sen. Leahy's FISA reform legislation. Signed by U.S. District Judge John Bates, the AO's director and former presiding judge of the FISA Court, the letter pulls few punches on the the public advocate provisions of the bill. Writes Gorman:

WASHINGTON—A federal judge slammed a new surveillance-overhaul bill backed by the White House and civil-liberties groups that would establish a privacy advocate for the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in addition to curbing data collection on Americans. Judge John Bates, a federal district-court judge who has served on the secret national-security court, said in a letter that the legislation's proposals for the surveillance court "could inadvertently undermine the twin goals of protecting privacy and national security." Tuesday's letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) was at least the third time Judge Bates has weighed in on surveillance legislation this year, and it appears to be the strongest. Judge Bates was writing as the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, serving as the federal courts' voice on surveillance matters. His spokeswoman said his letter speaks for itself.