The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a judgment of the district court and remanded. The court held that §802 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government, upon certification by the Attorney General, to grant immunity to telecommunications carriers assisting with intelligence gathering, is facially constitutional.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, news media reported that the National Security Administration (NSA) had undertaken a warrantless eavesdropping program with alleged cooperation by telecommunications companies. Tash Hepting and other residential telephone customers (collectively Hepting) filed lawsuits in the district court against the telecommunications companies, challenging the legality of the companies’ participation in the surveillance program.
