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Reconstructing Electronic Surveillance Law, Daniel J. Solove

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

After the September 11th attacks in 2001, Congress hastily passed the USA-Patriot Act which made several changes to electronic surveillance law. The Act has sparked a fierce debate. However, the pros and cons of the USA-Patriot Act are only one part of a much larger issue: How effective is the law that regulates electronic surveillance?

The USA-Patriot Act made a number of changes in electronic surveillance law, but the most fundamental problems with the law did not begin with the USA-Patriot Act. In this article, Professor Solove argues that electronic surveillance law suffers from significant problems that predate the USA-Patriot …