ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

The Washington Post previewed hearings this week on the government's misuse of "national security letters," including two bills to clarify when the letters may be used. As we reported earlier, the FBI used national security letters to improperly access American's information for four years running and ignored a court ruling that had denied a surveillance request because "the facts were too thin."

According to the Post, the House bill would narrow the scope of circumstances where national security letters could be used to only investigations that clearly pertain to a foreign power or agent, and would also force the FBI to destroy information that it had illegally obtained. The Senate bill would require the FBI more closely track its use of letters and narrow the types of records that can be obtained without judicial approval.

Follow the links for two recent reports (long version, summary) from the Congressional Research Service on national security letters.