Ex Parte: A Legal Thriller of Secrecy and Surveillance (The Amicus) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

In the FISA Court, the government knows the target and the stakes. Elizabeth Marsh may see only what the court allows. What can she defend when she cannot know whose rights are at risk?

Former federal public defender Liz Marsh is appointed as an amicus curiae, a cleared attorney asked to challenge a secret surveillance application. In a sealed room, she searches redactions, footnotes, and omissions for clues. She learned to distrust official assurances after a client was wrongfully convicted because she believed the government’s claim that discovery was complete.

A footnote hints that the surveillance could expose a journalist’s confidential source. Liz cannot confirm her suspicion, name it in court, or tell her husband what she fears. Her opponent, Justice Department attorney Gerald Voss, answers with exact, carefully limited truths. As Liz’s access narrows and her argument seems to surface on the government’s side, she must decide how far to push without evidence she can reveal.

The ruling could shape how Americans’ communications are collected, retained, and destroyed. At home, each silence strains Liz’s marriage. In court, even a procedural win may leave her unable to learn whether it helped anyone.

Inside the secret machinery of national security law, The Amicus: Ex Parte follows a lawyer searching for an argument in the gaps of a classified record. Sealed filings, legal maneuvering, and uneasy alliances lead to a question with no easy answer: when the facts are hidden, how can anyone know whether justice was done?

Liz may narrow the order. The person she hopes to protect remains a secret.

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