The Supreme Court hinted Monday it may ask lower courts to take another look at a case involving FBI surveillance of Muslims even as the government …
The Supreme Court hinted Monday it may ask lower courts to take another look at a case involving FBI surveillance of Muslims even as the government has cited national security in declining to provide evidence about the operation. Yassir Fazaga and two other Muslim men said the FBI’s covert surveillance took place solely because of their religion and that it violated their constitutional rights. But the federal government asserted the state secrets privilege, which allows it to withhold evidence if it considers national security to be at stake. The California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 requires courts to review the materials in a private hearing to determine whether any of it could be used in the case. During more than two hours of argument Monday, several justices appeared skeptical of the appeals court’s decision but also indicated the challenge should continue, perhaps without the secret evidence the government says it doesn’t want to provide. Their questioning suggested the court may be looking for a narrow way to resolve the dispute. „The government takes a very much stronger view of what state secrets doctrine is and… it says anytime we have a secret, we’re entitled to use that evidence in our possession without telling you anything about it,“ Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch said during an exchange with the government’s attorney.
