EPIC - EPIC Urges Senate Committee to Explore Kavanaugh's Views on Privacy, Klayman Opinion

EPIC Urges Senate Committee to Explore Kavanaugh's Views on Privacy, Klayman Opinion

In a letter and memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee, EPIC has urged Senators to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on critical privacy, open government, and government surveillance issues. EPIC expressed concerns about the Kavanaugh’s views on privacy and Constitutional rights, stating “In Klayman v. Obama, Judge Kavanaugh went out of his way to set out theories to defend the suspicionless surveillance of the American public that surprised even conservative legal scholars.” EPIC said that Kavanaugh's views are out of step with recent Supreme Court opinions that carry forward Fourth Amendment protections to the digital age for GPS tracking, cell phone searches, and cell site location data. EPIC also asked the Senate to determine Judge Kavanuagh’s role, while in the Bush White House, in the unlawful warrantless wiretapping program and the secret expansion of the Patriot Act. EPIC regularly shares its views with the Senate concerning nominees to the Supreme Court, including Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kagan, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Alito, and Chief Justice Roberts. The Senate hearings begin on Tuesday, September 4.