Berkeley

Berkeley Law Project Cautions Against Dangers of Unchecked Surveillance

Published

13 years ago

December 4, 2013

By Andrew Cohen

The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at Berkeley Law has submitted an amicus brief in support of a federal case against the National Security Agency (NSA).

Represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a coalition of 22 organizations—from gun ownership advocates to Greenpeace—asserts that the NSA’s ongoing practice of collecting and storing vast numbers of Americans’ phone records is illegal.

TheSamuelson Clinic brief argues that without court oversight, United States intelligence agencies risk repeating historical abuses such as monitoring political opponents and other innocent Americans.

Under the direction of Clinic Director Jennifer Urban ’00 and Senior Fellow Attorney Chris Hoofnagle, students Charlie Crain ’14, Jesse Koehler ’14, and Samia Hossain ’14 conducted exhaustive research and helped draft the brief.

“What surprised me most in our research was the extent and consistency of this overly broad surveillance that’s gone on since before World War II,” Koehler said. “Talk about bipartisan support—it has expanded consistently no matter which party held the Presidency.”

Submitted to the U.S. District Court in First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA, the brief is on behalf of three renowned experts on the history of American surveillance: James Bamford, the preeminent chronicler of the NSA; Peter Fenn, who was a staff member to the Senate Intelligence Committee; and Loch Johnson, former staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight.

All were closely involved in a comprehensive review of U.S. intelligence operations completed by a Senate committee in the 1970s.

Drawing upon its three experts, the brief reveals parallels between abusive practices of the past and today’s monitoring programs. After World War II, historical evidence shows that intelligence agencies conducted politically-motivated surveillance of Americans including Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Martin Luther King, Jr., Senator Adlai Stevenson, Congressman Abner Mikva, White House advisers, congressional staff members, journalists, and many ordinary Americans exercising associational and free speech rights.

The brief urges the court to apply existing legal limits on government surveillance powers to address risks posed by the executive branch—and to determine the limits of intelligence agencies’ activities.

surveillance can’t be prevented by simply putting different people in place,” Crain said. “We don’t think people working at NSA are operating in bad faith. They’re asked to secretively gather as much information as possible, and the historical pattern shows that this creates expansive collection and eventually results in abuse.”

Upholding the laws

U.S. law has long recognized a First Amendment right to freedom of association and the ability to express political views as a group. In numerous cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has found that citizens are less likely to associate with organizations when they know the government is monitoring their activities and can track their interactions.

In its brief, the Samuelson Clinic calls for upholding that constitutional guarantee as well as the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). That law, designed to address concerns about overbroad monitoring, was the first statutory regime aimed at protecting Americans from domestic surveillance. But with the events of 9/11 and the major technology advances that followed, FISA protections have come under strain.

“Our brief shows that when you give the government unfettered access, the information gathered will eventually be misused for purposes that weren’t originally intended,” Koehler said. “That’s why FISA was enacted by Congress, to prevent these abuses. Allowing the government to go back to a previous pre-FISA paradigm circumvents this protective structure.”

Through its historical presentation, the clinic explains that the court needs to step in because intelligence agencies naturally expand programs over time, which leads to collecting information too aggressively. If courts fail to recognize the dangers of unchecked surveillance and the resulting constitutional violations, Crain believes it will fall on the public to push for a legislative solution—especially now that it’s easier than ever to store mass amounts of data.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Don't Miss

Cephus Johnson Urges Unity in Marin City

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

4 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

10 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Cal Performances Presents Angélique Kidjo & Yo-Yo Ma in Sarabande Africaine at UC Berkeley Greek Theatre on Aug. 30

On Saturday, Aug. 30, the pair will debut the Bay Area premiere of Sarabande Africaine, joined by pianist Thierry Vaton, percussionist David Donatien, and special guest Sinkane. The program illuminates centuries of musical interplay between African traditions and Western classical forms, using the Baroque sarabande dance, and its African ancestor, the Congolese spirit dance Zarabanda, as a gateway to exploring the deep, interconnected roots of global music.

Published

10 months ago

August 25, 2025

Oakland Post

Angelique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma. Wikimedia photos.

By Carla Thomas

On Labor Day weekend two of the world’s most celebrated musicians and cultural ambassadors, Grammy Award–winning vocalist Angélique Kidjo and legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma join forces for an evening of music, history, and cultural dialogue at UC Berkeley’s historic Hearst Greek Theatre.

Both Kidjo and Ma have built careers not only as great performers but as passionate advocates for cultural understanding. Sarabande Africaine is as much a conversation about shared heritage as it is a musical performance, blending genres, geographies, and histories.

“Every day there are moments when all of us can feel we are on the inside of something and also when we feel we are on the outside of something,” said Yo-Yo Ma. “To be able to understand both at the same time and oscillate between the two gives us a larger perspective on the world.”

“If your mind is open, and there is no fear, it’s easier to listen, and to question yourself,” said Kidjo.

The upcoming performance is presented within Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Exile & Sanctuary” series for the 2025–26 season. The production explores exile as more than just physical displacement, but a disruption in identity and belonging, while sanctuary represents both refuge and the creative space where new connections and communities can take shape.

Cal Performances’ Illuminations bridges performances with UC Berkeley’s academic research, pairing the arts with conversations about urgent global issues.

Kidjo’s continued partnership with Cal Performances includes her 2021–22 artist-in-residence, premiering her music-theater work Yemandja, set in 19th-century West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade.

She also participated in the Bias in Our Algorithms and Society panel alongside campus leaders like Jennifer Chayes, and joined the Black Studies Collaboratory for a dialogue on music, diaspora, and the world.

She has since returned to Berkeley for multiple performances, most recently in 2024 at Zellerbach Hall.

Yo-Yo Ma’s history with Cal Performances spans decades, beginning in 1997. One notable project includes the 2018 performance of Bach’s complete cello suites at the Greek Theatre, a testament to his devotion to creating “transformative concert experiences in iconic spaces.”

For tickets and more information, visit calperformances.org.