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0 pointsdragonwriter0y ago0 comments

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and the higher level Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISA is the law limiting government surveillance certain of whose provisions they enforce) don't deal with “charges” at all, and the statute they do enforce the warrant requirements for (FISA) isn’t secret.

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user39393820y ago

Their interpretation of the statutes is secret thus we have secret law enforced by this court. The charges related to these warrants are secret if not adjudicated by the court. To be more direct, the existence of this court is an abomination in the context of a democracy.

dragonwriterOP0y ago

> Their interpretation of the statutes is secret

Their application of the statutes to facts that remain classified are generally classified, sure.

> The charges related to these warrants are secret if not adjudicated by the court.

There are no charges directly related to the warrants because they are not criminal warrants. If there are criminal charges indirectly related to them, they are not secret, and are pursued in normal US courts, by normal process.

> To be more direct, the existence of this court is an abomination in the context of a democracy.

There may be ways to improve the processes of these courts, but given the functions they deal with and the facts that in other democracies (as in the US prior to FISA) there is often no court oversight of foreign intelligence surveillance, I think their existence is actually a positive thing.

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