[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 877 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 877

 To provide for the non-discretionary Supreme Court review of certain 
    civil actions relating to the legality and constitutionality of 
                        surveillance activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 23, 2009

  Mr. Specter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the non-discretionary Supreme Court review of certain 
    civil actions relating to the legality and constitutionality of 
                        surveillance activities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MANDATORY SUPREME COURT REVIEW OF CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS.

    Chapter 81 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
at the end the following:

``SEC. 1260. MANDATORY SUPREME COURT REVIEW OF CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS 
              CONCERNING SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Supreme Court shall, if it has not 
previously ruled on the question, accept jurisdiction over any appeal 
of an interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order of a court of 
appeals in any case challenging the legality or constitutionality of--
            ``(1) the President's Surveillance Program, commonly known 
        as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, as defined in section 
        301(a)(3) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 
        Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-261);
            ``(2) the statutory defenses established in Section 
        802(a)(4) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, 
        as amended by title II of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
        Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-261); or
            ``(3) any intelligence activity involving communications 
        that was authorized by the President during the period 
        beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending at such time as the 
        activity was approved by a Federal court.
    ``(b) Expedited Consideration.--The Supreme Court shall advance on 
the docket any appeal referred to in subsection (a), and expedite the 
appeal to the greatest extent possible.''.

SEC. 2. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

    The chapter analysis for chapter 81 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following:

``Sec. 1260. Mandatory Supreme Court review of certain civil actions 
                            concerning surveillance activities.''.
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