## Facts

- The government obtained orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizing electronic surveillance targeting Gabriel Megahey, an Irish national associated with foreign-intelligence concerns.
- Surveillance captured meetings and telephone calls linking Megahey, Andrew Duggan, and the Meehans to a plan to acquire firearms and explosives in the United States and export them covertly to Northern Ireland.
- The scheme included removing serial numbers from firearms and shipping weapons and explosives concealed within cargo.
- At trial, the prosecution relied heavily on FISA-derived recordings and agent testimony describing the defendants’ activities and the arms-export plan.
- The defendants were convicted in the Eastern District of New York of multiple firearms and explosives offenses, including unlicensed exportation of munitions-list items, unlawful transportation of explosives, transportation of firearms with removed serial numbers, carrier-notice violations, and conspiracy.
- The district court denied suppression and handled FISA materials through in camera, ex parte review.

## Issues

1. Whether FISA’s standards and procedures for foreign-intelligence electronic surveillance satisfy the Fourth Amendment and separation-of-powers requirements.
2. Whether FISA unlawfully discriminates against nonresident aliens or otherwise violates equal protection or due process.
3. Whether the government complied with FISA’s statutory requirements (including certification, probable-cause findings, and minimization) and whether the court’s in camera, ex parte review was proper.
4. Whether any FISA-related defect required suppression of the surveillance evidence or reversal of the convictions.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the judgments of conviction.
- The court held that FISA’s probable-cause framework—focused on whether the target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power—was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when the surveillance is conducted primarily for foreign-intelligence purposes.
- The court rejected separation-of-powers objections, concluding that issuing FISA orders is analogous to warrant issuance and fits within Article III judicial functions.
- The court rejected equal-protection challenges, concluding that FISA does not impermissibly discriminate against nonresident aliens.
- After examining the classified applications, orders, and related materials in camera and ex parte, the court found no basis to conclude that FISA’s requirements were unmet and upheld the district court’s nondisclosure rulings.
- The court upheld the use of FISA-derived information in a criminal prosecution and found the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s verdicts.

## Legal Principles

- Foreign-intelligence surveillance may satisfy the Fourth Amendment with a probable-cause showing that the target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, rather than probable cause of criminal activity, when conducted primarily for foreign-intelligence purposes.
- Congress may authorize distinct procedures for foreign-intelligence surveillance, and judicial approval of such surveillance orders is consistent with separation of powers.
- FISA does not deny equal protection merely because it focuses on foreign powers and their agents in regulating foreign-intelligence collection.
- Courts may review classified FISA materials in camera and ex parte to assess legality and disclosure, and suppression is not warranted absent a showing of statutory noncompliance or other legal defect.
- Information lawfully obtained under FISA may be used as evidence in criminal prosecutions when statutory requirements are satisfied.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit upheld FISA as constitutional and properly applied, approved in camera, ex parte judicial review of classified surveillance materials, and affirmed that lawfully obtained FISA evidence may be used in a criminal trial, sustaining the defendants’ convictions for an arms-and-explosives export conspiracy.


United States v. Duggan, 743 F.2d 59 (2d Cir. 1984)