20 April 21
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20 April 21
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Ted Olson, the former Bush-era solicitor general, is part of a coalition of First Amendment groups asking the Supreme Court to review decisions of the intelligence courts. (photo: Alex Brandon/AP)
FOCUS: Nina Totenberg | First Amendment Groups Press Supreme Court for Access to Surveillance Court Opinions
Nina Totenberg, NPR
Totenberg writes: "First Amendment groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make public major decisions authorizing government surveillance, opinions that until now have remained almost secret."
irst Amendment groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make public major decisions authorizing government surveillance, opinions that until now have remained almost secret.
For years, the ACLU and other groups have maintained that the public has a First Amendment right to see major decisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, decisions that authorize everything from surveillance of suspected spies and terrorists to metadata mining aimed at ferreting out potential terrorist plots, including those that involve contacts between foreigners and American citizens.
But the FISC and its supervisory appeals panel ultimately ruled against any public access. Now a coalition of First Amendment groups is asking the Supreme Court to review those decisions of the intelligence courts. Among those appealing is Theodore Olson, who served as solicitor general in the Bush administration at the time of and after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and whose wife, Barbara, was among those killed on American flight 77, the plane that hit the Pentagon.
The positions taken by these intelligence courts "have just gone too far," Olson, who is on the board of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in an interview with NPR. They "can't create a constitutional court and then insulate that court from any public access ... creating blanket immunity from public review of its opinions."
Olson, who is counsel of record in the case, argues that the public is entitled to have access to opinions that include "significant interpretations" of federal law and constitutional provisions, opinions that "sometimes authorize broad surveillance regimes, with far-reaching implications for U.S. citizens."
Political groups on the right and left have voiced increasing suspicions about the way surveillance data is collected. Privacy advocates have long criticized the FISC as a rubber stamp for what they view as the government's overly intrusive data collection, with most people having no idea how much of their private information has been "harvested."
FISC orders are highly classified, but the First Amendment groups maintain that legal opinions enunciate principles of law, and can be scrubbed of classified information. Allowing such access, the groups argue, is in the tradition of the constitutional system of open courts. It would "allow the public to understand the government's surveillance powers and practices, promote confidence in the FISA system, strengthen democratic oversight ... and would also give Americans, and Congress, the opportunity to press for reforms."
Monday's filing is the culmination of more than a decade of litigation. The next step is likely to be a response from the Biden administration, followed by a decision by the justices on whether to grant review in the case. It takes the votes of only four justices to agree to hear arguments in a case, but the justices are generally loath to intervene in intelligence matters.
Derek Chauvin is taken into custody after being found guilty of murdering George Floyd. (photo: Getty)
BREAKING: Derek Chauvin Guilty on All Counts in Killing of George Floyd
Timothy Bella, Abigail Hauslohner and Keith McMillan, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. He was immediately remanded into custody and will be sentenced in the coming weeks."
ormer Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. He was immediately remanded into custody and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.
The jury announced its verdicts Tuesday afternoon, less than a full day after closing arguments in the three-week trial concluded.. Deliberations concluded after the prosecution and defense teams presented nearly six hours of closing arguments that focused on vastly different views about the circumstances that led to Floyd’s death in May outside Cup Foods in Minneapolis.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Chauvin faced two charges of murder and one charge of manslaughter.
- The nation was bracing for a verdict that could lead to more civil unrest.
- These are the jurors who have decided Chauvin’s fate. Read Judge Peter A. Cahill’s instructions to the jurors.
- Prosecutor Steve Schleicher’s closing argument alleged that Chauvin killed Floyd on purpose, and that he “chose pride over policing.” “This wasn’t policing. This was murder,” Schleicher said.
- After defense attorney Eric Nelson raised objections over remarks by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Cahill admonished elected officials who have made public statements about the case in a “disrespectful manner to the rule of law.”
- A Washington Post series, “George Floyd’s America,” examined the role systemic racism played throughout Floyd’s 46-year life.
- What video and other records show about Floyd’s final minutes.
“Hey hey, Ho Ho, Derek Chauvin has got to go,” chanted a crowd outside the Hennepin County, Minn., courthouse.
Black Lives Matter flags were waving in the air and the anxiety and hype built as the jury verdict approached. Amber Young, 50, took off from work in case a verdict would be announced, and arrived here at noon.
“I felt it was important,” she said. “I’m so nervous.”
She works at the Salvation Army location where Floyd used to work. She said she worries that her 23-year-old Black son could become another “Facebook live video or hashtag” on police brutality.
A helicopter circled overhead as Black Lives Matter flags waved in the air.
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