The Bush Administration’s decision on January 17 to discontinue the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program makes the inaugural issue of For the Record, produced by New York University School of Law’s Center on Law and Security, timelier than ever. The publication provides the necessary context to understand why the Bush administration, without judicial approval, has decided to halt surveillance of individuals in the United States suspected of terrorism.
The Bush Administration’s decision on January 17 to discontinue the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program makes the inaugural issue of For the Record, produced by New York University School of Law’s Center on Law and Security, timelier than ever. The publication provides the necessary context to understand why the Bush administration, without judicial approval, has decided to halt surveillance of individuals in the United States suspected of terrorism.
For the Record dissects the constitutional and legal concerns over the wiretapping program, specifically outlining the key judicial and legislative developments since the program was revealed in December 2005.
The Center on Law and Security launched For the Record in January 2007 as a series of factual guides will address issues central to national security and the war on terror.
In the inaugural issue readers will find the following:
- A timeline of FISA (Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act) history and current issues
- A summary of both sides of the surveillance debate
- Interviews with leading scholars and experts on this issue
The Bush Administration has committed itself to once again seek warrants from the Foreign Surveillance Court to obtain wiretaps on Americans suspected of ties to terrorists by agreeing to new arrangements with the Court to provide the necessary agility to move against terrorist suspects. Because many questions remain, not least of which whether these new arrangements are consistent with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), the Center on Law and Security sees For the Record as an invaluable guide to practitioners, lawmakers, and journalists grappling with these questions in the months ahead.
For further commentary, please contact Professor Stephen Schulhofer, NYU School of Law, at 212.998-6260, or Karen Greenberg, Executive Director of the Center on Law and Security, 212.992.8854.
The full report is available on www.lawandsecurity.org.