JURIST - Paper Chase: Domestic surveillance activities now subject to FISC supervision: Gonzales

[JURIST] The Bush Administration will from now on submit all domestic surveillance requests to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [FJC backgrounder] for review and approval under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according to a letter [PDF text; US DOJ background briefing transcript, DOC] sent Wednesday by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The letter explained that the a member of FISC had authorized government surveillance of transmissions coming into or going outside of the country where one party was suspected of association with a terrorist organization:

On January 10, 2007, a Judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issued orders authorizing the Government to target for collection international communications into or out of the United States where there is probable cause to believe that one of the communicants is a member or agent of Al Qaeda or an associated terrorist organization. As a result of these orders, any electronic surveillance that was occurring as a result of the Terrorist Surveillance Program will now be conducted subject to the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

While maintaining the legality of the NSA domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive], Gonzales said the President will not reauthorize the program when its current authorization expires, and will instead submit all surveillance requests through the FISC.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...