November 13, 2023–Due Process Institute and the undersigned organization wrote to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to express strong opposition to even a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 and urged to keep any such provision out of the continuing resolution and any other must-pass legislation.
Section 702 has been routinely abused in ways that violate Americans’ fundamental civil liberties and civil rights. FBI agents have used this surveillance authority, which is supposed to be limited to non-U.S. citizens located outside the United States, to gain warrantless access to the communications of tens of thousands of protesters, racial justice activists, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, journalists, and members of the U.S. Congress. Even after the FBI’s recent changes to its internal procedures, the abuses have continued, with agents conducting warrantless searches for the communications of a U.S. senator, a state senator, and a state court judge who contacted the FBI to report civil rights violations by a local police chief. NSA agents, for their part, have abused the authority to search for the communications of online dating prospects and potential tenants.
In its current form, this authority is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and — ultimately — far-reaching reforms. Allowing a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 to be slipped into a must-pass bill would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people.