National Security Letters: ACLU Plaintiff "John Doe" Ungagged

The FBI has partially lifted a gag order it imposed on the president of an Internet service provider (ISP) on whom it served a national security letter (NSL) demanding customer records in 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today. Nicholas Merrill, who was the first person ever to challenge an NSL in court, can now reveal his identity and speak about his experience for the first time since receiving the NSL. The ACLU and New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the NSL statute and the gag order on behalf of Merrill (then called John Doe) in April 2004, which resulted in numerous court rulings finding the NSL statute unconstitutional.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• ACLU
• National Security Letters
• John Doe
• Nick Merrill
• Melissa Goodman
• FBI
• Internet

[LarcheOsborne]

It sounds as if the drafters of this insane statute missed reading the 4th Amendment.

[Ruthlesscritic]

Congratulations on being the only one with the guts to challenge this. Hopefully others will follow and eliminate the practice entirely, and for the idiot Republican viewers out their, the FBI will of course still be able to get information it legitimatly needs with a proper court subpoena or search warrent. I bet it feels great not to be John Doe any more.