Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,805 Articles
A Response to General Dunlap
First a caveat—I have worked with many honorable national security law experts who do exceptional scholarship and whose perspective I find extremely valuable, just as I have…
Does the Intelligence Community Fear Lawyers…or Legal Scrutiny?
[Editor’s Note: See Marshall Erwin’s response to General Dunlap here.] In a provocatively entitled essay, Are National Security Lawyers a National Security Threat?…
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Releases Report on Section 702 Surveillance (Full Text)
On Tuesday evening, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB)—an independent body within the Executive Branch—released a major report concerning the National…
Riley v. California — An Important Step Forward, but How Far Forward?
The joined cases of Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie rightly have been hailed as a ringing endorsement of privacy in the digital age. By holding that police may…
Abu Khattalah and the Evolution of Ship-Based Detention
The N.Y. Times reports that Ahmed Abu Khattalah arrived in Washington, D.C., this morning by helicopter following his transport across the Atlantic on a Navy warship. Khattalah,…
The importance (and difficulty) of the Stimson Task Force transparency recommendations . . . and a couple of legal corrections
Like Steve, I strongly recommend to Just Security readers the report on drone policy that the Stimson Task Force published yesterday. The report is very thoughtful and balanced,…
Pleasant Surprises – and One Disappointment – in the Supreme Court’s Cell Phone Decision
As commentators quickly recognized, there’s just cause for celebration in this week’s Supreme Court decision in Riley v. California, requiring a warrant to search an arrestee’s…
New Resource — Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse FISA Archives
Thanks to Just Security for letting me blog today about a new resource. Obviously there have been load of disclosures about FISA matters over the past year—between the Snowden…
SCOTUS & Cell Phone Searches: Digital is Different
Today, the Supreme Court unanimously invalidated warrantless searches of cell phones incident to arrest in Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie. Full disclosure: my colleagues…
Status of CIA Detention and Interrogation Program Declassification (updated)
A few weeks ago I posted about three contexts in which the government is engaged in declassification efforts concerning the CIA’s former detention and interrogation program. …
10 Years of Drone Strikes in Pakistan–but do you know whether it’s an “area of active hostilities”?
Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the first reported US drone strike in Pakistan (punctuated by another one today). Yet there is still official silence about a crucial…
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: Is Reform Needed?
With the advent of the Edward Snowden leaks commencing in June 2013, much has been written about Snowden and the United States intelligence community. This short blog post examines…