Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: Secret law is inconsistent with democratic governance. In order for the rule of law to prevail, the requirements of the law must be publicly discoverable. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stated in 1998 that the “idea of secret laws is repugnant”. The open publication of laws and directives is a defining characteristic of government of the United States. The first Congress of the United States mandated that every law, order, resolution, and vote [shall] be published in at least three of the public newspapers printed within the United States .
The practice of withholding decisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is at odds with the United States tradition of open publication of law. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court acknowledges that such Court has issued legally significant interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. ) that are not accessible to the public. The exercise of surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. ), as interpreted by secret court opinions, potentially implicates the communications of United States persons who are necessarily unaware of such surveillance.
Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1861 ), as amended by section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act ( Public Law 107–56 ; 115 Stat. 287), authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigation to require the production of any tangible things and the extent of such authority, as interpreted by secret court opinions, has been concealed from the knowledge and awareness of the people of the United States. In 2010, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence established a process to review and declassify opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but more than two years later no declassifications have been made.
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U.S. Code
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- Pub. L. 107-56
- 115 Stat. 287
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