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March 18, 2013

Federal Judge Rules National Security Letters Unconstitutional 
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A federal judge has ruled the FBI's use of national security letters is
unconstitutional. The decision by Judge Susan Illston of Federal
District Court in San Francisco comes in the case of an unnamed telecom
firm ordered by the government to provide subscriber information.
Through the national security letters, the FBI can order businesses to
provide information on their customers without any judicial review and
without the customers' knowledge. In her ruling, Judge Illston wrote
that the letters create "too large a danger that speech is being
unnecessarily restricted." The ruling has been put on hold pending a
Justice Department appeal.

 

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