ACLU asks spy court to release secret rulings in response to leaks

A woman talks on the phone in front of the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, Thursday, June 6, 2013, where the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court resides. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

In another turn in the debate over NSA surveillance, the Foreign Intelligence Court is facing new calls to release its secret opinions on phone data searches under the Patriot Act.

Lawyers for the ACLU and a media program at Yale Law School filed a motion Monday asking the FISA court to release its rulings on an expansive portion of the Patriot Act, Section 215, which is the basis for the NSA’s review of millions of Verizon phone lines, first reported by The Guardian last week.

Lawyers for the ACLU say the motion is a key tactic to compel the government to explain the legal authority for its surveillance authority, rather than operating under “secret law.”
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