In a first of its kind filing, a coalition of civl liberties and Arab-American groups, including the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL), have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the secret FISA Review Court's ruling on government wiretapping and the sharing of information between intelligence agencies and law enforcement.

The case offers the first opportunity for the Justices to consider government actions in the wake of September 11 that severely restrict civil liberties in the name of national security.

"On behalf of all Americans, we are urging the Supreme Court to reject the extreme notion that Attorney General Ashcroft can suspend the ordinary requirements of the Fourth Amendment to listen in on phone calls, read e-mails, and conduct secret searches of Americans%u2019 homes and offices," said Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU filed the appeal together with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), a Michigan-based organization.

[link via How Appealing]

Attorneys in the case are Beeson, Jameel Jaffer and Steven Shapiro of the ACLU and Joshua L. Dratel, John D. Cline and Tom Goldstein of NACDL, acting on behalf of their organizations and as counsel to ADC and ACCESS.

The case is In Re: Sealed Case Of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Of Review No. 02-001.

The Motion to Intervene is online here.. The Petition of Certiorari is online here .

Here is the transcript of the Fisa Review court oral argument.

Our multiple prior criticisms of the ruling and the secret FISA review court are here.