Government Surveillance

Comprehensive examinations of the activities of US intelligence and law enforcement agencies by congressional committees in the 1970s led to significant reforms designed to ensure that investigations conducted by those agencies were respectful of the Constitutional rights of Americans. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the intelligence and security bureaucracy, in concert with the Bush Administration, has capitalized on the current climate and has pressed for the elimination of many of those safeguards. Sweeping anti-terrorism legislation, the USA Patriot Act, enacted in October, 2001, contained many new powers, some completely unconnected to terrorism. Most notably, the Congress enacted amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which pervert the original intent of the legislation. In addition to this congressional action, the Department of Justice has instituted policies that authorize the monitoring of communications between attorneys and their clients and severely weaken the regulations governing investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Click on the links below to learn more about the government's expanded surveillance powers.

CNSS Action

Letter advocating NCIC database Accuracy, April 8, 2003

Letter to Congressman Richard Armey (R- TX) Regarding Changes to FISA (October 30, 2002)

Memo on Proposed Amendments to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (July 31, 2002)

Memo on Attorney General Guidelines for FBI Investigations: FBI spied on political organizations under the Guidelines even before they were weakened by Attorney General Ashcroft (June 26, 2002)

Memo on Concerns about Chilling Effect of Revised FBI Guidelines on First Amendment Activities (June 11, 2002)

Comments of the Center for National Security Studies on the Attorney General's Order Regarding the Monitoring of Lawyer-Client Communications 66 Fed. Reg. 55062 (Oct. 31, 2001)

Relevant Hearings

  • "Securing Freedom and the Nation: Collecting Intelligence Under the Law", House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, April 9, 2003
  • "Can Factual Data Analysis Strengthen National Security?", House o Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census, May 20, 2003
  • "Anti-Terrorism Investigations and the Fourth Amendment After September 11: Where and When Can the Government Go to Prevent Terrorist Attacks?", House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, May 20, 2003