Surveillance court sides with ACLU, moves to release documents

{mosads}“We are pleased that the surveillance court has recognized the importance of transparency to the ongoing public debate about the NSA’s spying,” Alex Abdo, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project, said in a statement. “For too long, the NSA’s sweeping surveillance of Americans has been shrouded in unjustified secrecy. Today’s ruling is an overdue rebuke of that practice. Secret law has no place in our democracy.” 

The order does not cover the documents involved in a separate ACLU lawsuit filed in federal court in New York under the Freedom of Information Act.

The surveillance court gave the government until Oct. 4 to identify the documents and propose redactions.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.