Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Plaintiff,
v.
Defendants.
Elliott J. Schuchardt
Schuchardt Law Firm
200 Prosperity Road, Suite 110
Knoxville, TN 37923
Phone: (865) 304-4374
E-mail: elliott016@gmail.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 1
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND................................................................................................. 7
ARGUMENT.................................................................................................................................. 9
I. There is a material issue of fact as to whether Defendants are collecting the full
content of the nation's e-mail. ............................................................................................10
B. As expert witnesses, Binney and Wiebe are allowed to rely upon the
Snowden documents. ............................................................................................ 16
II. The executive branch is infringing on the investigatory function of this Court. ...............16
III. Defendants collection of e-mail is in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. ...........18
A. The Plaintiff has an expectation of privacy in his e-mail and web search
queries. .................................................................................................................. 19
IV. Four other federal circuit courts have held that plaintiffs have standing in bulk
collection cases. .................................................................................................................22
B. Fourth Circuit........................................................................................................ 23
C. Second Circuit....................................................................................................... 23
D. D.C. Circuit........................................................................................................... 24
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................. 25
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Cases
ACLU v. Clapper, 959 F. Supp. 2d 724, 738, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180863, 29, 2013
WL 6819708 (S.D.N.Y. 2013)............................................................................................... 24
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723, 742, 128 S. Ct. 2229, 2246 (2008) ..................................... 16
Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417, 450, 118 S. Ct. 2091 (1998)................................... 18
Jewel v. NSA, Case No. C 08-04373 JSW (N.D. Cal. Feb. 19, 2016). ........................................ 23
Klayman v. Obama, 957 F. Supp. 2d 1, 27, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176925, 67-68, 2013
WL 6571596 (D.D.C. 2013) ............................................................................................ 24, 25
Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 140, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978)................................. 23
Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473, 189 L. Ed. 2d 430, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 4497 (2014) ...... 19, 20
Schuchardt v. President of the United States, 839 F.3d 336, 343 (3d Cir. 2016). .................... 9, 10
United States v. Mitchell, 377 F. Supp. 1326, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8455 (D.D.C. 1974) . 17, 18
Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 313-314, 87 S. Ct. 1642, 1653-
1654, 18 L. Ed. 2d 782, 796, 1967 U.S. LEXIS 2753, 34 (U.S. 1967). ................................ 21
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 103 F. Supp. 569, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
4527 (D.D.C. 1952) ............................................................................................................... 16
Other Authorities
Rules
ii
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Plaintiff,
v.
Defendants.
The Plaintiff, Elliott Schuchardt, files this memorandum of law in opposition to the
Background
This case challenges Defendants collection and analysis of e-mail in the United States
On October 4, 2001, President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency
(NSA) to intercept, access and electronically store (collect) the full content of e-mail passing
through certain United States communication facilities. The program, called Stellar Wind, was not
In December 2005, the New York Times published an article about the program, exposing it
for the first time. A few months later, in May 2006, an AT&T technician revealed that the NSA was
copying all e-mail passing through an AT&T communication facility in San Francisco.
Following these disclosures, the government sought to establish the legality of the Stellar
Wind program through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (the "FISC"). The FISC is a
court established pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 50 U.S.C. chap. 36 ("FISA").
On December 13, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an application with the FISC for
approval of the Stellar Wind program. The application asked the FISC to give the government
blanket authority to collect all e-mail passing through specific communication facilities. Once
collected, the e-mail could be searched with approval of the Attorney General, but not a court.1
On January 10, 2007, the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard, a judge with the FISC,
Shortly thereafter, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales crowed to the media that the
warrantless spying program had been brought "under the authority of the FISC." He described the
However, Gonzales spoke too soon. On March 21, 2007, the government filed an application
to renew the bulk collection authority approved by Judge Howard. This time, the FISC denied the
application. In an opinion written on April 3, 2007, Judge Roger Vinson held that the government's
In denying the government's request, Judge Vinson explained his reasoning as follows:
1
See Ex. B to Plaintiff's Brief in Opposition to Defendants' First Motion to Dismiss Complaint, filed
at Docket No. 23 (hereafter "Government Application").
2
See Ex. A to Plaintiff's Brief in Opposition to Defendants' First Motion to Dismiss Complaint, filed
at Docket No. 23 (hereafter "Savage Article").
3
See Ex. D to Plaintiff's Brief in Opposition to Defendants' First Motion to Dismiss Complaint, filed
at Docket No. 23 (hereafter "Vinson Opinion"), at 13.
2
Congress intended the pre-surveillance "judicial warrant procedure," and
particularly the judge's probable cause findings, to provide an external check
on executive branch decisions to conduct surveillance.
* * *
The government would have all the probable cause findings . . . made by
executive branch officials, subject to after-the-fact reporting to the Court.
That result cannot be squared with the statutory purpose of providing a pre-
surveillance external check on surveillance decisions.
(Vinson Opinion, at 13-15.) Judge Vinson therefore ordered the government to cease collecting e-
Before finishing his opinion, however, Judge Vinson addressed the governments argument
that the President can collect the nations e-mail under his powers as Commander in Chief of the
I recognize that the government maintains that the President may have
"constitutional or statutory authority to conduct the electronic surveillance
detailed herein without Court authorization." [Citations omitted]. Nothing
in this order and opinion is intended to address the existence or scope of
such authority, or this Court's jurisdiction over such matters.
In other words, the FISC indicated that it would look the other way if the President sought
to collect the nations e-mail under the Presidents alleged powers as Commander in Chief. In
making this statement, Vinson gave the Defendants a green light to collect the nations e-mail
database, without further involvement of or oversight from the FISC. That is exactly what
Defendants did.
During the summer of 2007, Defendants began to ramp up the most massive invasion of
privacy ever seen in the history of the world. Their goal was then -- and is now -- to intercept and
3
store all online documents and communications. This includes all documents sent by e-mail, as well
as documents stored in cloud service providers, such as Dropbox or Microsofts Sky Drive. (2d
Defendants systematic collection got underway on the sixth anniversary of the 911 attacks:
On September 11, 2007, Defendants began bulk collection of e-mail sent by means of Microsofts
system. On March 12, 2008, the Defendants began bulk collection of Yahoo e-mail and web search
queries. Other providers followed: Google on January 14, 2009; Facebook on June 3, 2009;
YouTube on September 24, 2010; Skype on February 6, 2011; AOL on March 31, 2012; Apple in
October 2012; and Dropbox in June 2013. (2d Amended Compl., 38-39, 90-99).
Snowden disclosures
On June 6, 2013, the Guardian newspaper reported that Defendants had obtained direct
access to the servers of several large internet companies, including Yahoo, Google, Facebook,
The article was based on documents provided to the newspaper by a former NSA contractor,
Edward Snowden. The documents released by Mr. Snowden show that Defendants are collecting all
e-mail sent by means of certain internet companies based in the United States. This includes e-mail
sent by means of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple.
The documents also show that Defendants are collecting all documents stored by means of certain
cloud service providers, such as Dropbox and Microsofts Skydrive. (2d Amended Compl., 24-
49).
For example, one document is labeled New Collection Posture. It says: Sniff It All,
Know It All, Collect It All, Process It All. Another document boasts that the Defendants are "one
4
Defendants' collection efforts have become so massive that the Defendants are having
difficulty processing all of the data. According to one document obtained from Snowden:
"Collection is outpacing [Defendants'] ability to ingest, process and store to the 'norms' to which
Any doubt about the meaning of these documents is resolved by the statements made by
Snowden himself. During a video interview published by the Guardian, on June 10, 2013, Snowden
stated:
One month later, on July 12, 2013, Snowden released a statement during a press conference.
Following Snowdens disclosures, Defendants claimed that they were only storing
metadata, and not the actual content of electronic documents and communications. Metadata
refers to certain information relating to a specific telephone call or e-mail. It includes the date and
time of the communication; the sender; and the recipient of the call or e-mail. However, it would not
include the content of the e-mail or phone call. For the past two years, Defendants have claimed that
their collection was about relatively-benign metadata, and not about content.
5
Snowden responded to the governments spin in March 2014, when he appeared at a TED
conference in Vancouver, Canada by means of video conference. During that appearance, Snowden
The best way to understand PRISM . . . is to first talk about what PRISM
isn't. Much of the debate in the U.S. has been about metadata. They've said
it's just metadata, it's just metadata . . . . PRISM is about content.
Prior to June 2013, Edward Snowden used an encrypted e-mail service called Lavabit.
Defendants could collect e-mail sent by Lavabit by tapping into cables proximately located near the
companys servers. However, they could not read Snowdens actual e-mail because Lavabit uses
encryption codes or strings of numbers -- that are too long to be cracked by todays
supercomputers. To access the content of the e-mail, Defendants needed the actual encryption codes.
install a device on its server which would have provided Defendants with access to the full content of
all e-mail messages for all of Lavabit's 410,000 customers, an extraordinary and patently illegal
request. Defendants also demanded that the company's owner, Ladar Levinson, provide to the
government the private encryption keys for all of Lavabit's e-mail accounts. (2d Amended Compl.,
51).
On August 8, 2013, Levinson voluntarily shut down Lavabit, because he could no longer
provide a secure e-mail service to his customers. (2d Amended Compl., 53).
The following day, on August 9, 2013, another e-mail service -- Silent Circle -- voluntarily
shut down operations. After doing so, Silent Circle destroyed its e-mail server so that its database of
e-mail communications would not fall into Defendants' hands. (2d Amended Compl., 54).
6
Since August 9, 2013, there has been no secure e-mail service within the United States. The
content of all e-mail sent or passing through the United States is monitored and stored by
Defendants, without a warrant or any form of court supervision. (2d Amended Compl., 55).
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Schuchardt is a consumer of many of the internet services described above. He uses e-mail
provided by Google, Facebook and Yahoo; he conducts web searches through the Google search
engine; and he stores his personal and law firm documents by means of the Dropbox cloud storage
On June 2, 2014, Schuchardt filed a complaint against the Defendants, alleging that
Defendants had invaded his privacy by collecting the full content of his e-mail. The complaint seeks
On December 11, 2014, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Schuchardts second amended
On September 30, 2015, this Court entered an order dismissing the Second Amended
On October 5, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit entered an order finding
that the Plaintiff had facial standing on the basis of his pleadings. The Court of Appeals remanded
the case to this Court, and authorized Defendants to contest the complaint on factual grounds.
7
On March 15, 2017, the Defendants filed a renewed motion to dismiss the case. Schuchardt
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
Defendants have filed a motion arguing that Plaintiff does not have subject matter jurisdiction
because Plaintiff's factual premise is allegedly wrong, i.e. whether Defendants are collecting the
Defendants motion relies upon an affidavit of Wayne Murphy, the Director of Operations at
the National Security Agency. Murphy testifies in his affidavit that "the NSA does not, under
Executive Order 12333, collect in bulk (or store) all or substantially all of the e-mails or other
Murphy's affidavit does not necessarily contradict Plaintiff's case. Murphy can be correct if
the NSA collects e-mail, and then deletes a portion of the e-mail after a period of time, due to the
NSA's present inability to store all communications. It is well-known that Defendants are currently
building massive data storage facilities located at Bluffdale, Utah and Ft. Meade, Maryland, as well
Thus, Defendants have failed to contradict the substance of Plaintiff's complaint, based on
their sole affidavit: It is still possible that Defendants are collecting the nation's e-mail database, and
The balance of Defendants' motion seeks to prove the non-competence of the other evidence
that Schuchardt has previously filed in this case. Schuchardt is not relying upon such evidence in
In opposition to Defendants' motion, Schuchardt has filed two new affidavits, submitted by
William E. Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe. Both Binney and Wiebe spent decades working at the
8
National Security Agency. They are familiar with the agency and its operations. More importantly,
they are familiar with certain of the documents released by former NSA contractor, Edward
Snowden.
On the basis of the Snowden documents, experts Binney and Wiebe have opined to the Court
that Defendants "are intercepting, accessing and storing Schuchardt's private communications,
As explained in this brief, the expert opinions of Binney and Wiebe are admissible evidence
in this case. Defendants have admitted the authenticity of the documents upon which Binney and
Wiebe have relied in reaching their opinions. Furthermore, according to Rule 705 of the Federal
Rules of Evidence, Binney and Wiebe are authorized to rely on documents which would not
otherwise be admissible, if such documents are the type of evidence that experts would typically and
There is therefore a material issue of fact in this case, warranting a trial on the issue of
whether Defendants are engaged in bulk collection of the nation's e-mail database.
ARGUMENT
Defendants have filed a motion arguing that the Plaintiff does not have subject matter
jurisdiction in this case because Plaintiff's factual premise is allegedly wrong, i.e. whether
the Third Circuit, if a defendant contests the pleaded jurisdictional facts, the court must permit the
plaintiff to respond with evidence supporting jurisdiction. Schuchardt v. President of the United
States, 839 F.3d 336, 343 (3d Cir. 2016); Int'l Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers v. Nw.
9
"The court may then determine jurisdiction by weighing the evidence presented by the
parties." If there is a dispute of a material fact, the court must conduct a plenary trial on the
contested facts prior to making a jurisdictional determination. Schuchardt, 839 F.3d at 343
As explained below, there is a material issue of fact in this case warranting a trial.
I. There is a material issue of fact as to whether Defendants are collecting the full
content of the nation's e-mail.
Defendants motion relies upon an affidavit of Wayne Murphy, the Director of Operations at
the National Security Agency. Murphy testifies in his affidavit that "the NSA does not, under
Executive Order 12333, collect in bulk (or store) all or substantially all of the e-mails or other
Murphy's affidavit does not necessarily contradict Plaintiff's case. Murphy can be correct if
the NSA collects e-mail, and then deletes a portion of the e-mail after a period of time, due to the
NSA's present inability to store all communications. It is well-known that Defendants are currently
building massive data storage facilities located at Bluffdale, Utah and Ft. Meade, Maryland, as well
Thus, Defendants have failed to contradict the substance of Plaintiff's complaint, based on
their sole affidavit: It is still possible that Defendants are collecting the nation's e-mail database, and
The balance of Defendants' motion seeks to prove the non-competence of the other evidence
that Schuchardt has previously filed in this case. Schuchardt is not relying upon such evidence in
10
Instead, Schuchardt has filed two new affidavits in opposition to the motion. These affidavits
are submitted by William E. Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe, both of whom are serving as expert
William E. Binney spent thirty-two years working at the NSA. As Technical Director of the
Analytical Services Office, he was responsible for handling all technical issues relating to the
acquisition, development and distribution of signals intelligence to the agency's 6,000 analysts.
These analysts covered reporting for the entire world. (Binney Aff. 6-9).
Binney's duties at the NSA also included working with foreign governments who receive
intelligence collected by the NSA. Such governments included the so-called "Five Eyes" -- i.e. the
intelligence agencies for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, in addition to
related issues. This includes several members of the European Union. He has testified before the
German Parliament, the British House of Lords, and the EU Libe Committee on Civil Liberties on
these issues. When he appeared before the German parliament, several members of the United States
Congress flew to Germany to observe his testimony. (Binney Aff. 68). Binney has also served as a
J. Kirk Wiebe has a similar background. Wiebe spent over twenty-five years working for, or
in support, of the National Security Agency. (Wiebe Aff., Ex. A). As an analyst at the agency, he
was responsible for using technology to identify individuals and communities of interest to the
Both Mr. Binney and Mr. Wiebe are familiar with certain of the documents released by
Edward Snowden. Based on their review of such documents, Binney and Wiebe believe that
11
Defendants are still engaged in bulk collection of e-mail. For example, Mr. Binney's affidavit states
as follows:
* * *
32. I can advise the Court that the allegations in the Plaintiff's complaint
are true and correct: Defendants are intercepting, accessing and storing
Schuchardt's private communications, without a warrant. This is known as
"collection" of data in the intelligence community.
33. The communications collected include the full content and associated
metadata of e-mail, text messages, and web queries performed by United
States citizens.
34. These records are collected inside the United States, as well as at
overseas locations. The data is then stored in data centers located at Fort
Meade, Maryland; Bluffdale, Utah; and at other sites in the United States.
12
24. In 2013, James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence,
issued an order directing all present and former employees of the intelligence
community to not publicly discuss the documents released by Mr. Snowden.
30. The documents that I obtained include the exhibits attached to this
Affidavit, as well as Exhibits B, D, E, F, G, H and I attached to Mr.
Schuchardt's First Amended Complaint, filed in this case. However, the
documents that I reviewed are not limited to such documents.
31. The documents provided by Mr. Snowden are the type of data that
experts in the intelligence community would typically and reasonably rely
upon to form an opinion as to the conduct of the intelligence community.
13
messages, and web queries performed by Mr. Schuchardt and other United
States citizens.
* * *
11. I agree with Mr. Binney that it is not necessary to "collect everything"
in order to gather effective intelligence for the federal government. The
NSA's policy of bulk collection is unnecessary and overburdens the agency's
analysts with tens of thousands of worthless hits every day in the "daily pull."
If the intelligence community were to focus on "smart selection" -- based on
known communities of interest -- it would be far more effective in gathering
intelligence.
Thus, Binney and Wiebe are in agreement as to their conclusion: "Defendants are
intercepting, accessing and storing the Plaintiff's private communications, without a warrant."
A. Defendants have legally admitted that the Snowden documents are authentic.
The conclusions of Mr. Binney and Mr. Wiebe are based on their review of the documents
released by former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, in June 2013. Defendants have admitted the
For example, in 2013, the former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, issued an
order prohibiting employees of the U.S. government from discussing the documents released by
Edward Snowden. Clapper would not have issued such an order if the documents had been
14
James Clapper has also publicly called upon Snowden to "return" the documents to the U.S.
report admitting that Snowden had released approximately 1.5 million classified documents.5
These admissions are admissible evidence in this case. According to Rule 801 of the Federal
In this instance, James Clapper had authority to discuss the Snowden documents because he
was the Director of National Intelligence, the highest intelligence-related position in the federal
government. In addition, the above-cited Report of the U.S. House of Representatives is an official
Thus, Defendants have legally admitted that the Snowden documents are authentic. In
addition, both Binney and Wiebe are able to authenticate the documents because they relate to
programs that they created, or worked on, at the NSA. (Binney Aff. 22; Wiebe Aff. 8).
4
See Ex. A, Spencer Ackerman, "James Clapper Calls for Snowden and 'Accomplices' to Return
NSA Documents," The Guardian, January 29, 2014.
5
See Ex. B, Executive Summary of the Review of the Unauthorized Disclosures of Former National
Security Agency Contractor Edward Snowden, U.S. House of Representatives, September 15, 2016,
at 1.
15
B. As expert witnesses, Binney and Wiebe are allowed to rely upon the Snowden
documents.
Finally, as expert witnesses, Binney and Wiebe are authorized to rely upon documents that
are not otherwise admissible evidence. According to Rule 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence:
An expert may base an opinion on facts or data in the case that the expert has
been made aware of or personally observed. If experts in the particular field
would reasonably rely on those kinds of facts or data in forming an opinion
on the subject, they need not be admissible for the opinion to be admitted.
William Binney states in his affidavit that the documents released by Mr. Snowden "are the
type of data that experts in the intelligence community would typically and reasonably rely upon to
form an opinion as to the conduct of the intelligence community. (Binney Aff. 31). Thus, the
affidavits of William Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe are competent evidence in this case.
It is therefore proper for the Court find that there is a material issue of fact warranting a trial
II. The executive branch is infringing on the investigatory function of this Court.
In 1803, in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), the U.S. Supreme Court stated that it has
the power to issue orders binding upon the executive branch of the United States.
Since that time, the Supreme Court has jealously guarded the power of the federal courts, vis-
a-vis the executive branch. See, e.g., Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 103 F. Supp. 569,
1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4527 (D.D.C. 1952) (president does not have the power to seize nation's steel
mills under his alleged power as commander in chief of the armed forces); United States v. Nixon,
418 U.S. 683 (1974) (president does not have the power to determine the scope of a subpoena issued
by a federal court); see also Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723, 742, 128 S. Ct. 2229, 2246 (2008)
16
("The Framers' inherent distrust of governmental power was the driving force behind the
In this case, the executive branch is attempting to usurp the Court's investigatory function.
This function was assigned to the federal courts by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically,
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme
Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time
ordain and establish.
By unilaterally seizing the nation's e-mail and searching it without a court order, the
Defendants have rendered moot the need for this Court to review and issue subpoenas.
The judicial power of the United States cannot be shared with other branches of the federal
government. In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed this issue in United States v. Nixon, 418
U.S. 683, 704-705, 94 S. Ct. 3090, 3106, 41 L. Ed. 2d 1039, 1062, 1974 U.S. LEXIS 93, 40-41 (U.S.
1974).
In that case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a subpoena to
President Nixon, directing him to produce audio recordings of conversations that occurred in the
Oval Office. Nixon moved to quash the subpoena, arguing that production would have violated
"executive privilege." The District Court denied Nixon's motion, finding that the federal courts --
and not the President -- are the final arbiter of the law. United States v. Mitchell, 377 F. Supp. 1326,
On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Judge Sirica. The Court explained
17
Our system of government "requires that federal courts on occasion interpret
the Constitution in a manner at variance with the construction given the
document by another branch."
* * *
The "judicial Power of the United States" . . . can no more be shared with the
Executive Branch than the Chief Executive, for example, can share with the
Judiciary the veto power. . . . Any other conclusion would be contrary to the
basic concept of separation of powers and the checks and balances that flow
from the scheme of a tripartite government. The Federalist, No. 47, p. 313 (S.
Mittell ed. 1938). We therefore reaffirm that it is the province and duty of
this Court "to say what the law is" with respect to the claim of privilege
presented in this case. Marbury v. Madison, supra, at 177.
Nixon, 418 U.S. at 704-705, 94 S. Ct. at 3106, 1974 U.S. LEXIS 93, 40-41 (U.S. 1974).
The seizure of online documents in this case is far more pernicious than the facts of the
Nixon case. In Nixon, the executive branch was wiretapping the political opposition. In this case,
the executive branch is essentially wiretapping the entire nation, including the Court itself. (App.
86).
For the foregoing reasons, the executive branch is attempting to seize the Court's power. The
Plaintiff respectfully submits that the Court enforce its powers, while it has the ability to do so.
Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417, 450, 118 S. Ct. 2091 (1998) (Kennedy, J., concurring)
("Liberty is always at stake when one or more of the branches seek to transgress the separation of
powers").
Defendants conduct is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.
18
U.S. Const. 4th Amend. (2017) (emphasis added).
The protection of the Fourth Amendment only applies if Plaintiff Schuchardt has an
expectation of privacy in the information sought by the government. In this case, Schuchardt and
A. The Plaintiff has an expectation of privacy in his e-mail and web search
queries.
In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion clarifying that the Plaintiff has an
In Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473, 189 L. Ed. 2d 430, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 4497 (2014), the
state of California searched the defendants cell phone without obtaining a warrant. The defendant,
David Riley, then moved to exclude all evidence obtained from the search.
On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Riley had an expectation of
privacy in the data in his cell phone. In reaching this conclusion, the Court noted the immense
The term cell phone is itself misleading shorthand; many of these devices
are in fact minicomputers that also happen to have the capacity to be used as
a telephone. They could just as easily be called cameras, video players,
rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions,
maps, or newspapers.
* * *
The most basic phones that sell for less than $20 might hold photographs,
picture messages, text messages, Internet browsing history, a calendar, a
thousand-entry phone book, and so on.
* * *
A cell phone search would typically expose to the government far more than
the most exhaustive search of a house: A phone not only contains in digital
form many sensitive records previously found in the home; it also contains a
broad array of private information never found in a home in any form
unless the phone is.
19
Riley, 134 S. Ct. at 2489-91, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 4497, at 34 (emphasis added). The Court therefore
concluded that any search of a cell phone would require a warrant. Id., 134 S. Ct. at 2493.
This is the same conclusion reached by the FISC in 2007, when it refused to authorize the
Thus, both the civil courts and the FISC have ruled against the government, when the
government has sought to collect e-mail, texts and web queries without a warrant.
In their pleadings filed with the FISC, Defendants have repeatedly emphasized their "internal
However, these internal controls do not -- and will never -- work. The temptation to search
the government's massive and growing database of private communications will inevitably lead to
abuses of Defendants unstable system. Political leaders will search the database for information
about their opponents. NSA staffers will access the records of major law firms and investment banks
for inside information concerning investments. Spurned lovers will use the database to cyber stalk
the objects of their affection. The trade secrets of the Fortune 500 are at risk. The possibilities are
limitless.
The key to the kingdom must be held by a third party, namely the courts. It should not be
necessary to reinvent the wheel on this issue. History tells us the foreseeable result.
The United States constitution grew out of the governmental abuses common during the
period from 1761 to 1791. This time period was characterized by aggressive search and seizure
practices that were the result of the "general warrant." A general warrant:
empowered a person "to search in all places, where books were printing, in
order to see if the printer had a license; and if upon such search he found any
books which he suspected to be libelous against the church or state, he was to
20
seize them, and carry them before the proper magistrate." [citation omitted].
Thus the general warrant became a powerful instrument in proceedings for
seditious libel against printers and authors.
Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 313-314, 87 S. Ct. 1642, 1653-1654, 18 L.
Ed. 2d 782, 796, 1967 U.S. LEXIS 2753, 34 (U.S. 1967). A general warrant was, therefore, very
similar to the power that the executive branch is attempting to seize from the Court in this
case.
In 1787, our present Constitution was drafted without a Bill of Rights. The absence of a Bill
of Rights became a significant source of concern during the ratification process. There was much
talk about general warrants, and the nation's fear of them. Id. Patrick Henry spoke out concerning
the dangers of the situation, using words that are, ironically, still relevant today:
The officers of Congress may come upon you now, fortified with all the
terrors of paramount federal authority. . . . They may, unless the general
government is restrained by a bill of rights, or some similar restriction, go
into your cellars and rooms, and search, ransack, and measure, every thing
you eat, drink, and wear. They ought to be restrained within proper bounds.
Warden, Maryland Penitentiary, 387 U.S. at 316, 87 S. Ct. at 1655 (citing 3 Elliot's Debates 448-49).
During the ratification process, several states requested that the new Constitution be amended
to provide protection against unjustified searches and seizures. In response, the first Congress
proposed the Fourth Amendment, which became part of the Constitution in 1791.
The above history of the Fourth Amendment is important and relevant today. The dangers
posed by Defendants' conduct are real. This is why some of the smartest people in the United States
government including William Binney and Edward Snowden have sacrificed their careers and
risked their liberty to bring this matter to the attention of this Court. This is why there was such an
uproar in the West when the Snowdens disclosures became known in June 2013.
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If the executive branch can seize all electronic communications without oversight, the power
IV. Four other federal circuit courts have held that plaintiffs have standing in bulk
collection cases.
In addition to the Third Circuit, four other federal circuit courts have held that plaintiffs have
One of these courts, the Ninth Circuit, has authorized discovery against the NSA on these
A. Ninth Circuit .
In Jewel v. NSA, 673 F.3d 902, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 25951 (9th Cir. 2011), a group of
citizens sued the NSA, objecting to the agencys collection of e-mail through a communication
facility in the San Francisco area. In the case, several former NSA staffers came forward, and filed
The District Court in Jewel initially found that the plaintiffs did not have standing. However,
on appeal, the Ninth Circuit found that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the government's
collection of e-mail. In reaching this conclusion, the court rejected the governments contention that
Article III imposes no heightened standing requirement for the often difficult
cases that involve constitutional claims against the executive involving
surveillance. See Amnesty Int'l, 638 F.3d at 149 ("We do not see any reason
why the law of standing should be stricter or different in the surveillance
context.").
Jewel, 673 F.3d at 913, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 25951, 25.
Recently, on February 19, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
-- at the direction of the Ninth Circuit -- became the first federal District Court to lift a stay of
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discovery against the intelligence community on these issues. See Jewel v. NSA, Case No. C 08-
04373 JSW (N.D. Cal. Feb. 19, 2016). The District Court is currently cautiously moving forward
B. Fourth Circuit.
In Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA, 857 F.3d 193 (4th Cir. 2017), a group of media,
educational and legal organizations filed suit against the NSA, alleging that the agency was
intercepting, collecting and reviewing the plaintiffs' text messages. The United States District Court
for the District of Maryland initially dismissed the case for lack of standing. On appeal, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that Wikimedia had standing to pursue the case.
* * *
C. Second Circuit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reached a similar conclusion in ACLU v.
Clapper, 785 F.3d 787, *801; 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7531, **27 (2d Cir. 2014).
In that case, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit to enjoin the governments
collection of telephone metadata. The trial court, sitting in the Southern District of New York, found
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that the ACLU had standing to challenge the government's collection activities. ACLU v. Clapper,
959 F. Supp. 2d 724, 738, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180863, 29, 2013 WL 6819708 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).
On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed, and found that the
ACLU had standing to challenge the governments collection of metadata. The Court explained its
reasoning as follows:
ACLU v. Clapper, 785 F.3d 787, *801; 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7531, **27 (2d Cir. 2014) (emphasis
added).
D. D.C. Circuit.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has also found standing, in a case similar
to this case. In Klayman v. Obama, 957 F. Supp. 2d 1, 27, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176925, 67-68,
2013 WL 6571596 (D.D.C. 2013), several private citizens sued the federal government, seeking an
injunction on the governments collection of telephone metadata. The District Court Judge, the
Put simply, the Government wants it both ways. Virtually all of the
Government's briefs and arguments to this Court explain how the
Government has acted in good faith to create a comprehensive metadata
database that serves as a potentially valuable tool in combating terrorism
in which case, the NSA must have collected metadata from Verizon Wireless,
the single largest wireless carrier in the United States, as well as AT&T and
Sprint, the second and third-largest carriers.
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Klayman, 957 F. Supp. 2d at 27, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176925, at 67-68. Judge Leon therefore
rejected the governments reasoning, and found that the plaintiffs had standing.
On appeal, a plurality of justices on the D.C. Circuit agreed that the plaintiffs had standing, at
least for purposes of limited discovery to determine whether the plaintiffs records were being
collected by the government. Obama v. Klayman, 800 F.3d 559, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 15189
(D.C. Cir. 2015) (On remand it is for the district court to determine whether limited discovery to
The federal circuit courts are therefore attuned to the dangers posed by Defendants conduct,
CONCLUSION
WHEREFORE, for the reasons set forth above, the Plaintiff respectfully requests that this
Honorable Court enter an order scheduling a trial to determine whether the Plaintiff has subject
Respectfully submitted,
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Elliott Schuchardt, hereby certify that I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing brief
on the following person on this 10th day of July 2017 by means of the Courts CM / ECF electronic
filing system: