world.wikisort.org - USA

The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) is a U.S. federal court whose sole purpose is to review denials of applications for electronic surveillance warrants (called FISA warrants) by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (or FISC). The FISCR was established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (known as FISA for short) and consists of a panel of three judges. Like the FISC, the FISCR is not an adversarial court; rather, the only party to the court is the federal government, although other parties may submit briefs as amici curiae if they are made aware of the proceedings. Papers are filed and proceedings are held in secret. Records of the proceedings are kept classified, though copies of the proceedings with sensitive information redacted are very occasionally made public. The government may appeal decisions of the FISCR to the Supreme Court of the United States, which hears appeals on a discretionary basis.

United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
(F.I.S.C.R.)
Location	Washington, D.C.
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Appeals from	United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Established	October 25, 1978
Authority	Article III court
Created by	Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 50 U.S.C. § 1803
Composition method	Chief Justice appointment
Judges	3
Judge term length	7 years
Presiding Judge	David B. Sentelle
www.fisc.uscourts.gov/FISCR

There is no provision for review or appeal of a grant of a warrant application, only of a denial. That is because in both the FISC and the FISCA, the government – the party who seeks a warrant to conduct surveillance – is the only party before the court, and it is unusual for anyone else to become aware of the warrant application in the first place.

The judges of the Court of Review are district or appellate federal judges, appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States for seven-year terms. Their terms are staggered so that there are at least two years between consecutive appointments. A judge may be appointed only once to either the FISCR or the FISC.

Notable cases

In re Sealed Case

The FISCR was called into session for the first time in 2002 in a case referred to as In re: Sealed Case No. 02-001. The FISC had granted a FISA warrant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) but had placed restrictions on its use; specifically, the FBI was denied the ability to use evidence gathered under the warrant in criminal cases. FISCR allowed a coalition of civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to file amicus briefs opposing the FBI's new surveillance programs. The FISCR held that the restrictions that the FISC had placed on the warrant violated both FISA and the USA PATRIOT Act and that there was no constitutional requirement for those restrictions.

In re Directives

In August 2008, the FISCR affirmed the constitutionality of the Protect America Act of 2007 in a heavily redacted opinion, In re Directives [redacted text] Pursuant to Section 105B of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, released on January 15, 2009.[1][2][3] In re Directives was only the second such public ruling since FISA's enactment.[4]

In re Certification of Questions of Law

In May 2018, the FISCR affirmed an en banc order holding that three public interest groups had "standing to seek disclosure of the classified portions of the opinions at issue." The three groups were the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital, and the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale University. The government had argued that none of the groups had a legal right to compel disclosure of FISC opinions. The FISCR disagreed, holding: "The flaw in the government's position is that it attacks the merits of the movants' claim rather than whether the claim is judicially cognizable. In other words, the government confuses the question of whether the movants have a First Amendment right of access to FISC opinions with the question of whether they have a right merely to assert that claim. Courts have repeatedly pointed out that there is a distinction between whether the plaintiff has shown injury for purposes of standing and whether the plaintiff can succeed on the merits."[5]

Composition

Current membership

Name	Court	Date appointed	Term expiry	Ref
David Sentelle	D.C. Circuit	May 19, 2018	May 18, 2025	[6]
		May 19, 2020 Presiding
Robert Miller	Northern District of Indiana	July 8, 2020	May 18, 2027	[6]
Stephen Higginson	Fifth Circuit	February 25, 2021	May 18, 2027	[6]

Former members

Note that the start dates of service for some judges conflict among sources.

Name	Court	Date appointed	Term expiry	Ref
Morris Arnold	Eighth Circuit	May 19, 2008	August 31, 2013	[7][8][9]
		September 10, 2012 Presiding
Bobby Baldock	Tenth Circuit	June 17, 1992	May 18, 1998	[7]
James Barrett	Tenth Circuit	May 19, 1979	May 18, 1984	[7]
William Bryson	Federal Circuit	May 19, 2011	May 18, 2018	[7][8]
		September 10, 2013 Presiding
José Cabranes	Second Circuit	August 9, 2013	May 18, 2020	[10]
		May 19, 2018 Presiding
John Field	Fourth Circuit	May 19, 1982	May 18, 1989	[7]
Ralph Guy	Sixth Circuit	October 8, 1998	May 18, 2005	[7]
		May 19, 2001 Presiding
Leon Higginbotham	Third Circuit	May 19, 1979 Presiding	May 18, 1986	[7]
Edward Leavy	Ninth Circuit	September 25, 2001	May 18, 2008	[7]
		May 19, 2005 Presiding
George MacKinnon	D.C. Circuit	May 19, 1979	May 18, 1982	[7]
Edward Northrop	District of Maryland	January 11, 1985	January 10, 1992	[7]
Paul Roney	Eleventh Circuit	September 13, 1994 Presiding	May 18, 2001	[7][11]
Collins Seitz	Third Circuit	March 19, 1987 Presiding	March 18, 1994	[7]
Bruce Selya	First Circuit	October 8, 2005	May 18, 2012	[7]
		May 19, 2008 Presiding
Laurence Silberman	D.C. Circuit	June 18, 1996	May 18, 2003	[7]
Richard Tallman	Ninth Circuit	January 27, 2014	January 26, 2021	[12]
Robert Warren	Eastern District of Wisconsin	October 30, 1989	May 18, 1996	[7]
Ralph Winter	Second Circuit	November 14, 2003	May 18, 2010	[7]

References

Further reading

• "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and Court of Review 2014 Membership". from the Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
• Risen, James; Lichtblau, Eric (January 16, 2009). "Court Affirms Wiretapping Without Warrants". New York Times, January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
• Perez, Evan (January 16, 2009). "Court Backs U.S. Wiretapping". Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
• "Intelligence Court Releases Ruling in Favor of Warrantless Wiretapping". Washington Post, January 15, 2009. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
• "Court ruling endorses Bush surveillance policy". Associated Press, January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
• Pudlow, Jan (September 1, 2000). "Nixon era judges celebrate 30 years on the bench". The Florida Bar News, September 1, 2000. Retrieved September 30, 2012.

External links

• Rules of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, via Federation of American Scientists
• The Department of Justice brief on Case No. 02-001, redacted version, via Federation of American Scientists
• FISCOR Hearing transcript on 02-001, via Federation of American Scientists
• The Court of Review's Decision on "In re: Sealed Case No. 02-001", from Findlaw

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