Resolution resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. Violations

FOREIGN / DOMESTIC IS DEFINED BY THE NATURE OF THE INFORMATION, NOT LOCATION

"Foreign" refers to the nature of the information, not the location

Cardy 8 Emily Arthur Cardy, law student Fall, 2008 Boston University Public Interest Law Journal 18 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 171 NOTE: THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE PROTECT AMERICA ACT OF 2007 lexis

1. Foreign Intelligence Defined

The definition of "foreign intelligence" is critical to the constitutional analysis of the Protect America Act. The Act does not provide a different definition of "foreign intelligence" from the one provided in FISA; thus in interpreting the Protect America Act, FISA's definition of "foreign intelligence" applies. n84 In FISA's definition, "foreign" applies to the content of the information gathered, and not to the location in (or from) which the information is gathered, or the nationality of the sources from which it is gathered. n85 Instead, "foreign intelligence" means "information that relates to, and if concerning a United States person is necessary to, the ability of the United States to protect against ... " harms or clandestine operations against the United States. n86 The definition [*184] does not contain any language limiting the country from which the information may be collected. n87 Thus, while the Act's asserted purpose is to collect foreign intelligence, the Act's definition of foreign intelligence does not provide inherent protection against domestic surveillance - domestic surveillance is not precluded from the definition of foreign surveillance. How an act defines its terms, rather than the terms themselves out of context, dictates the Act's application; this is a critical point in understanding the Protect America Act's far-reaching implications.