FISA Court Gets First Public Advocate

A well-known Washington (DC) lawyer has been appointed to be the first of a total of five amici curae -- friends of the court -- who will act as a sort of ombudsman or public advocate at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). The move was one of the provisions in the USA Freedom Act, which passed in June 2015 as a package of modest reforms to the national security system. The attorney, Preston Burton, was named to the post by the FISC earlier in Sept, which was not widely reported until Sept 25.

Burton was likely selected because he has dealt with many security-related cases in the past, including former CIA intelligence agent Aldrich H. Ames, and former FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen. In addition, according to his own biography, he "has held a Top Secret/SCI level security clearance at numerous points in his career," which he will likely need again. Previously, hearings before the FISC were ex parte, or one-sided, with the judge only hearing from government representatives. Prior to the Snowden leaks, all FISC opinions, as well as its entire docket, had been totally secret. In the court’s history, warrants (and related orders) are approved more than 99 percent of the time.