Snowden NSA Leaks: Rep. Schiff Introduces Bill To Reform Secret Court
By Pema Levy
on September 20 2013 10:10 AM
... On Friday, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will introduce legislation to reform how the FISC makes major decisions by making the process adversarial. In other words, rather than a one-sided process wherein the government presents its request to the court, in serious opinions, the governments side would receive pushback from a public advocate.
The idea for a special advocate at the court took off in July after a former FISC judge said that the judges would benefit deciding between two sides on the important issues that are now coming before the FISC -- a result of the changing role of the secret court that for decades simply approved data requests but is now deciding important constitutional questions and overseeing ongoing surveillance programs. The idea quickly took hold in Congress, where three senators introduced similar legislation in early August. Even President Obama supports the idea.
But a special advocate presents, as critics of the idea like to bring up, practical difficulties. After all, the FISC operates in secret and handles sensitive information that about foreign intelligence operations. Schiffs bill presents a different strategy for how to introduce a court adversary than his Senate colleagues.
In Schiffs legislation, called the Ensuring Adversarial Process in the FISA Court Act, the new Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), would appoint a pool of non-governmental attorneys demonstrated expertise in and commitment to constitutional and legal protections for privacy and civil liberties, who could be called upon by the FISC to represent the civil liberties perspective in cases on significant constitutional questions or reviews of major surveillance programs ...
http://www.ibtimes.com/snowden-nsa-leaks-rep-schiff-introduces-bill-reform-secret-court-1408644