Orin Kerr writes:
Yesterday afternoon, the DNI declassified an 87-page FISC opinion authored by Judge Kollar-Kotellythat had allowed a bulk Internet metadata collection under FISA’s version of the Pen Register statute,50 U.S.C. 1842. In plain English, the government published a previously-secret opinion that had allowed for the bulk collection of non-content Internet metadata under a statute that provides very low levels of privacy protection. The program is now defunct, but the opinion gives us another chance to analyze the quality of legal analysis produced by the FISC.
I’ve read the opinion, and I find its analysis quite strange. In this post, I’ll explain why I find the opinion a head-scratcher.
Read more on Lawfare.