Federal court strikes down part of Patriot Act
245393
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled a portion of the Patriot Act is unconstitutional, the first time one of the antiterrorism law&#39;s controversial police surveillance provisions has been struck down.
508858
Nevada representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union are hailing a federal judge&#39;s ruling against part of the Patriot Act that the FBI used to get casinos and airlines to turn over records of thousands of Las Vegas visitors.
167550
Feds push for new, zestier Fourth Amendment A federal judge today struck down provisions of the Patriot Act as unconstitutional, adding fuel to the politically charged debate over the controversial law.â¦
506676
(Sept. 30) -- The portion of the controversial Patriot Act that allows for searches of Internet and phone records has been declared unconstitutional.
650747
A Los Angeles federal judge has ruled that key portions of a presidential order blocking financial assistance to terrorist groups are unconstitutional, further complicating the Bush administration's attempts to defend its aggressive anti-terrorism tactics in federal courts.
206377
A federal judge in Los Angeles, who previously struck down sections of the Patriot Act, has ruled that provisions of an anti-terrorism order issued by President George W. Bush after September 11 are unconstitutional.
224525
NEW YORK - The Justice Department will likely appeal a court ruling that declared unconstitutional a Patriot Act provision allowing secret and unchallengeable searches of Internet and telephone records, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday.    In a blow to the Justice Department's post-Sept...
761974
A federal judge today struck down parts of the new U.S.A. Patriot Act that authorized the F.B.I. to acquire corporate records using informal secret demands called national security letters.
276239
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a part of the US Patriot Act that allows the FBI to demand company records from businesses without court approval is unconstitutional.
527796
(InfoWorld) - A U.S. district judge has struck down a part of the anti-terrorism-inspired Patriot Act that requires telephone and Internet service providers to turn over records to the government without telling customers. Judge Victor Marrero, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled Thursday that the Patriot Act provision that allows the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation toÂ obtain ISP and telecom subscribers' billing, calling, and Web surfing recordsÂ without court approval violates the U.S. Constitution. Marrero ordered the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to stop issuing so-calledÂ national security letters, or NSLs, requiring ISPs to turn over subscriber records. The NSL program prohibited ISPs from telling customers that they were being investigated. Marrero delayed the order pending a DOJ appeal of his decision. The NSL program under the Patriot Act violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a restraint on free speech, the judge said in his 107-page order. The program also bypasses judicial oversight of the requests, Marrero said. The NSL program could allow the FBI to unmask the identity of Internet users posting anonymous comments, obtain all of the e-mail messages of an Internet user, and even find out all the Web sites a user has visited, Marrero said. "In light of the seriousness of the potential intrusion into the individual's personal affairs and the significant possibility of a chilling effect on speech and association -- particularly of expression that is critical of the government or its policies -- a compelling need exists to ensure that the use of NSLs is subject to the safeguards of public accountability," the judge wrote. The DOJ is reviewing the decision and considering its options, a spokesman said. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit against the DOJ and FBI, praised Marrero's decision. "Courts have a constitutionally mandated role to play when national security policies infringe on First Amendment rights," Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said in a statement. "A statute that allows the FBI to silence people without meaningful judicial oversight is unconstitutional." The U.S. Congress passed the Patriot Act less than two months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Congress, under pressure from President George Bush, reauthorized the Patriot Act in 2006. Many civil liberties groups have criticized the law for being overly broad and targeting innocent U.S. residents. Marrero in 2004 ruled that the NSL provisions of the Patriot Act violated the Constitution because they amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. After the 2006 revisions to the Patriot Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sent the case back to Marrero for a ruling on whether the NSL provisions were still unconstitutional. The FBI's use of the NSL program, which existed before the Patriot Act, has ballooned since the law was passed, Marrero noted. In 2000, the FBI issued about 8,500 NSL requests, and the number of requests rose to 56,000 in 2004, he wrote. The NSL program's "most troubling" aspect, Marrero wrote, is that it attempts to bypass judicial review of law enforcement requests. The program "reflects an attempt by Congress and the executive to infringe upon the judiciary's designated role under the Constitution," he wrote.
292926
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands  - U.S. Attorney General  John Ashcroft said on Thursday the Bush administration was  likely to appeal against a U.S. District Court ruling that part  of the Patriot Act was unconstitutional.
687284
Canada's Supreme Court struck down a controversial anti-terror law on Friday that allows foreign suspects to be detained indefinitely without trial on the basis of secret evidence.
556069
Two provisions of the Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge rules Wednesday.
581911
A federal judge on Thursday struck down President Bush's warrantless surveillance program, saying it violated the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
361988
A provision of the controversial Patriot Act which allowed the FBI to clandestinely demand information from ISPs has been ruled unconstitutional.
519581
Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
431386
A US judge on Thursday struck down a law allowing federal anti-terrorism agents to access financial, telephone and Internet records without a warrant.