Constitutional Law

Rare Public Move for Secret Court

A $2 million renovation of facilities within a D.C. federal courthouse is complete, permitting a new tenant to move in soon.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is moving from within the Justice Department into what may be the most the nation's most secure court. Though the plans are not public, renovations just completed behind the recently added 'Restricted Access' placards are known to include thick doors that seal into the walls and biometric hand scanners.

The Washington Post reports, 'Created in 1978 to curtail abusive government spying, the court enjoyed a rather obscure existence until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when authorities began to frantically intensify their spying efforts.' The court now handles warrant applications related to spying, which have doubled in the wake of 9/11.

Though critics accuse the court of being overly influenced by the government officials it is supposed to oversee, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth sees the court another way. Lamberth, who served as the secret court's chief judge from 1995 to 2002, initiated the move from the Justice Department to a traditional courthouse in part to counter that perception.

'I have struggled with the perception for years that we did whatever the government wanted and were rubber stamps,' said Lamberth. 'That was not and is not true, and this is a symbolic move that will help counter that.'

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 02, 2009 (boomark / email).