Court Strikes Down National Security Letter Statute

Telephone companies and internet service providers may have a means to resist unreasonable demands for subscriber information under so-called National Security Letters ("NSLs"). A federal district court has held that the statute authorizing the FBI to request that such providers produce information concerning their customers violates the providers’ First and Fourth Amendment rights. Doe v. Ashcroft, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19343 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 28, 2004). The court concluded that the absence of judicial review violates the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the statutory prohibition against disclosing the FBI request to "any person" violates the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The district court stayed its decision pending the government’s appeal to the Second Circuit.