The ACLUs challenge was filed on behalf of Jamshid Muhtorov, the first criminal defendant to receive notice that he was surveilled under the FAA since the law was passed more than five years ago. Together with Mr. Muhtorovs lawyers at the Office of the Federal Public Defender of Colorado, the ACLU and the ACLU of Colorado filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained or derived from the governments FAA surveillance of Mr. Muhtorov. The suppression motion argues that the FAA violates both the Fourth Amendment and Article III of the Constitution because it permits the government to intercept the international communications of U.S. residents like Mr. Muhtorov without first obtaining a warrant or submitting to any kind of individualized court review. Heres how we put it in the motion: The FAA violates the Fourth Amendment because it authorizes surveillance that violates the warrant clause and, independently, because it authorizes surveillance that is unreasonable. The statute also violates Article III by requiring judges to issue advisory opinions in the absence of a case or controversy. The procedural deficiencies of the FAA render the statute unconstitutional, and they render the surveillance of Mr. Muhtorov unconstitutional as well....
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:13:02 +0000
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