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Secret Appellate Court Meets
washingtonpost.com -- WASHINGTON �� A secret appellate court has met for the first time in its 24-year history to consider a request from the Justice Department for more power to wiretap suspected terrorists and spies, according to department officials.

The appeals court, the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, convened in a high-security room at the Justice Department in Washington Monday and made no announcement of whether it had made a decision.

But senators immediately asked the court to publicly release its decision and the arguments Justice Department lawyers made in front of it, so lawmakers can know how government prosecutors are using the changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act granted after the Sept. 11 attacks last year.

"We need to know how this law is being interpreted and applied," Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said Tuesday. No answer had been received from the Monday request, Senate officials said.

The appeal stems from a decision from the main court that assesses the legitimacy of Justice Department and FBI requests to spy on people suspected of foreign espionage inside U.S. borders.

Civil liberties groups denounced the secret nature of the court.

posted by West 10:02 AM