Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga

Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 8, 2021 Decided March 4, 2022
Full case name	Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al. v. Yassir Fazaga, et al.
Docket no.	20-828
Citations	595 U.S. ___ (more)
Argument	Oral argument
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Clarence Thomas · Stephen Breyer Samuel Alito · Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan · Neil Gorsuch Brett Kavanaugh · Amy Coney Barrett
Case opinion
Majority	Alito, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978

Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga, 595 U.S. ___ (2022), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the use of law enforcement surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) and the state secrets privilege defense. The case stems from a 2011 class action lawsuit filed against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) related to one of its surveillance operations. In August 2012, the district court dismissed the case on the basis of the FBI's invocation of state secrets privilege. The Ninth Circuit overturned this ruling in part in 2019, ruling that FISA precluded the defendants from invoking the state secrets defense. However, the Supreme Court overturned the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in a unanimous decision in March 2022, stating that FISA does not override the state secrets defense.