“Ordinary Americans should not have to worry that the FBI is rifling through their medical records, seizing their personal papers, or forcing charities and advocacy groups to divulge membership lists,” said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson.
Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said in a written statement that section 215 has “a narrow scope that scrupulously respects First Amendment rights, requires a court order to obtain any business records, and is subject to congressional reporting and oversight on a regular basis,” the Washington Post reported July 30.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of six Arab and Muslim-American community groups who believe they have been targets of investigation, follows increasing objections to the act from advocacy groups, local governments, and federal legislators. A week earlier, the U.S. House of Representatives blocked a proposal by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to halt searches of libraries and bookstores under the law.
Posted August 4, 2003.