Privacy advocates worried about government overreach were awarded a victory in federal court when warrantless “backdoor” digital searches were ruled unconstitutional.
The FISA Section 702 program allows federal authorities to search without warrant for digital information in databases collected in cases unrelated to the subject of the search. Both Democrats and Republicans approved this evidence-gathering practice despite objections from privacy advocates.
“We call on Congress to uphold its responsibility to protect civil rights and civil liberties by refusing to renew Section 702.”
Judge Rashan Deacy Hall of the Eastern District of New York ruled that this type of warranted search was unconstitutional in the federal case against Agron Hasbajrami, who was convicted on terrorism charges.
According to the ACLU, Hasbajrami “was arrested while on his way to Pakistan to join a terrorist organization, undergo training, and ultimately fight with U.S. forces and others in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
After he was convicted, the Justice Department revealed that “the evidence we previously disclosed from FISA surveillance was itself the fruit of prior information obtained without a warrant pursuant to Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.” .
The case was sent to Judge Hall. Hall disagreed with the Biden administration and agreed with Hasbajrami that “the inadvertent acquisition of a defendant's communications does not automatically permit the government to search among the acquired communications without a warrant.”
Despite the discovery, Hasbajrami will remain in prison.
“New Opinion Holds FBI Section 702 Questions Violate the Fourth Amendment, Court Finally Denies Defendants’ Motion to Suppress the Resulting Evidence on Separate Grounds,” Patrick of the ACLU Toomey said.
“As the court recognized, the FBI's rampant digital searches of Americans are an unfathomable invasion of privacy and trigger the Fourth Amendment's bedrock protections.” he added. “Section 702 is long overdue for reform by Congress, and this opinion shows why.”
The judgment was issued in December but was only made available to the public on Tuesday.
Cato Institute pointed out President Donald Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, testified that she supported the FISA Section 702 program, but director of national intelligence candidate Tulsi Gabbard had previously opposed it and changed her mind.
Federal law enforcement officials argued before Congress that the program is “irreplaceable” and “essential” in efforts to capture feared suspects.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation notes that Section 702 is scheduled to expire in April 2026, called to parliament Vote against extending the program.
“In light of this ruling, we urge Congress to update Section 702, which does not end many needed reforms, including official warrant requirements to query U.S. data and increases transparency. “We ask you to uphold your responsibility to protect civil rights and civil liberties by refusing to do so,” the organization said.
“Lawmakers worthy of that title should listen to what this federal court is saying and create legislative warrant requirements to ensure that the intelligence community does not continue to trample on constitutionally protected rights to civil communications. We look forward to it,” they added.
Like Blaze News? Bypass censorship, sign up for our newsletter and get stories like this straight to your inbox. Sign up here!
