Last year, United States District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the FBI’s use of administrative subpoenas known as National Security Letters, or NSLs, to compel telecoms for information about customers is unconstitutional, and faulted the bureau’s inclusion of gag orders with these requests as being in violation of First Amendment protections as well as the separation of powers principles. Federal prosecutors soon after appealed her ruling, however, setting the stage for the Ninth Circuit to hear oral arguments during Wednesday’s hearing in the city by the bay. According to the government’s lawyers, national security concerns require that the FBI...
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