Department of Justice SealDepartment of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 15, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
NSD
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Statement of Dean Boyd, Justice Department Spokesman, on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Opinion Published Today

"The Department of Justice is pleased with this important ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which upholds the constitutionality of foreign intelligence surveillance conducted under the Protect America Act of 2007.

"The case involved a challenge by a private party to directives that were issued under the Protect America Act and that required the party to assist the Government in conducting foreign intelligence surveillance against targets reasonably believed to be located outside the United States. The Court of Review upheld the lawfulness of the directives, concluding that the surveillance at issue fell within the foreign intelligence exception to the warrant requirement and was otherwise reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

"The Court issued a classified version of its opinion in August 2008 and subsequently requested publication of an unclassified version. Today, after a careful classification review process, the Court published the unclassified version of its opinion. The Court of Review's decision marks the second ruling published by the Court since it was established more than 30 years ago."

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09-040