United States v. Mohamud: Upholding the
Legality of Section 702 of FISA
This decision from a U.S. district court analyzed Section 702 of FISA—a key legal provision at the heart of controversies Snowden caused. Mohamed Mohamud, a U.S. citizen, was convicted in January 2013 for trying to set off a car bomb in Portland. Before sentencing, the U.S. government informed the court that it used information gathered under Section 702 as evidence in the trial. Surveillance under Section 702 against a foreign target had incidentally collected communications Mohamud made. Prosecutors had not disclosed this fact to Mohamud, who then challenged Section 702’s constitutionality by arguing that it violated the separation of powers doctrine and the First and Fourth Amendments. These claims connected to controversies about Section 702’s constitutionality in relation to the incidental collection of Americans’ communications that arose before Snowden began his disclosures. In this case, Judge Garr King ruled that Section 702 is constitutional.
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