Executive Orders
168 Articles

Overseas Surveillance in an Interconnected World
Outside the pages of Just Security and a handful of other places, it’s hard to find much debate over the NSA’s overseas surveillance activities. The same lawmakers and pundits…

Closing Guantánamo: Before You Accuse Congress, Take a Look at Your Administration
Five years ago today, President Obama issued Executive Order 13567, which established the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process to review every “forever” detainee in Guantánamo…

Bulk Collection Under Section 215 Has Ended… What’s Next?
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…

The Remarkable (and Remarkably Unnoticed) Guantánamo PRB Scorecard
One of the best-kept secrets concerning the ongoing detentions of non-citizens at Guantánamo is the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process being conducted pursuant to Executive…

There’s No Reason to Hide the Amount of Secret Law
Last week, President Obama announced a new policy that would allow private parties to pay ransoms to hostage takers. The policy was established through an executive order and an…

An Important New Filing in the Continuing Saga of Mohamedou Ould Slahi
This morning, lawyers for Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi–the international best-selling author of “Guantánamo Diary”–filed a new motion in the…

The Investigation into 12333 Begins
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) voted 4–1 yesterday to conduct reviews of how Executive Order 12333 is used in counterterrorism investigations by the…

The Cyber Sanctions Executive Order: What Will It Do and Will It Work?
In an Executive Order issued yesterday, the White House established a new sanctions regime for “significant malicious cyber-enabled activities,” including harming or impeding…

Executive Order 12333 and the Golden Number
I recently moderated a debate between Professor Nathan Sales of Syracuse Law, Professor Laura Donohue of Georgetown Law, Bob Litt, general counsel of the Office of the Director…

ODNI’s Civil Liberties Protection Officer Sets Forth Defense of 12333 Surveillance
Earlier this month, New York Times reporter Charlie Savage covered public criticisms made by John Napier Tye, a departing State Department official, of the NSA’s collection…

Executive Order 12333, Notice, and the Due Process Rights of Criminal Defendants
In a world of electronic surveillance and secret searches, notice is more essential than ever. Notice allows criminal defendants to test whether the government’s evidence was,…

Overview of Proposals to Reform Signals Intelligence Programs in Today’s Speech by the President
In today’s speech on Signals Intelligence Programs, President Obama outlined a number of “concrete and substantial reforms that [the] Administration intends to adopt…