A fascinating article by an anonymous writer about having received a National Security Letter for information and being bound by a built-in gag order not to tell anyone about it, even the fact of having received it.
Living under the gag order has been stressful and surreal. Under the threat of criminal prosecution, I must hide all aspects of my involvement in the case — including the mere fact that I received an NSL — from my colleagues, my family and my friends. When I meet with my attorneys I cannot tell my girlfriend where I am going or where I have been. I hide any papers related to the case in a place where she will not look. When clients and friends ask me whether I am the one challenging the constitutionality of the NSL statute, I have no choice but to look them in the eye and lie.
[…] I found it particularly difficult to be silent about my concerns while Congress was debating the reauthorization of the Patriot Act in 2005 and early 2006. If I hadn’t been under a gag order, I would have contacted members of Congress to discuss my experiences and to advocate changes in the law.
I apologize in advance to the rest of the nation — if I got such a letter, Margie would be the first person to know about it, even if that were a felony under the law.
(via kottke)
Good for you, Dave Hill, International Man of Limited Mystery!
How very Soviet. Or Chinese. Or 1984. No, how very Twenty-first Century American.
I’m so proud.