Friday, July 22, 2016: 10:00 pm (Noether): Twelve years have passed since Nicholas Merrill first began his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act and, specifically, the warrantless searches known as National Security Letters (NSLs). Now that he can tell the full story, what really happened? How much has actually changed because of the 12-year court case? If the government lost, why are NSLs still being issued at a rate of 50,000 per year? Who is doing anything about this problem, and what are they doing? What are the respective roles of litigation, legislation, and technical approaches to the issue of privacy?

Nicholas Merrill