NB: in 2018, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held that the FBI's Section 702 procedures, as implemented, violated the 4th Amendment. But yesterday's decision was the first to hold that warrantless searches of a particular person's communications were unconstitutional.

Yesterday's decision was the first of its kind, in part because the government has made it extraordinarily difficult for people to challenge Section 702 surveillance and these warrantless queries in court.

More here: www.aclu.org/press-releas...

(5/5)

While the number of these warrantless queries has declined in recent years, they’re still happening far too frequently and without the judicial approval the Constitution requires.

(4/5)

The FBI has conducted millions of these warrantless queries for Americans' communications, including searches for private communications of protestors, members of Congress, donors to a political campaign, and journalists.

(3/5)

As a refresher: Under Section 702 of FISA, the government acquires Americans' international communications on a massive scale and without a warrant. FBI agents then search through these databases to find Americans' communications—again, without a warrant.

(2/5)

The brief is available here: www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

Read more about the case here: www.aclu.org/press-releas....

Thanks also to @eff.org and @knightcolumbia.org, who joined us on the brief.

www.aclu.org/press-releas...