Government Drops Objections to Publishing Secret Opinion

The Obama Administration has dropped its objection to the publication of a secret court opinion on the law that authorizes the National Security Agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' telephone records.

The Justice Department told the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in a filing that the department won't object if the court decides to publish nonclassified portions of its opinion that don't harm an ongoing law enforcement investigation. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School had asked the court to release opinions on the meaning, scope and/or constitutionality of a legal provision under which the records are collected — Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.