Bio
Jameel Jaffer () is a former deputy legal director of the ACLU and former director of its Center for Democracy, which houses the organization's work on human rights, national security, free speech, privacy, and technology. He has litigated many cases relating to government surveillance, including challenges to the Patriot Act's "national security letter" provision, the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, and the National Security Agency's call-tracking program. He has also litigated cases relating to targeted killing and torture, including a landmark case under the Freedom of Information Act that resulted in the release of the Bush administration's "torture memos" and hundreds of other documents relating to the Bush administration's torture program. He is currently working on a book about individual privacy and official secrecy, a project he began as an Open Society Fellow in 2013. Before joining the staff of the ACLU, he clerked for Judge Amalya L. Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada. He is a graduate of Williams College, Cambridge University, and Harvard Law School.
Featured work
Jul 17, 2013
ACLU on the Hill: NSA Surveillance "Intrusive and Unconstitutional"
Jun 21, 2013
How the NSA's Surveillance Procedures Threaten Americans' Privacy
Jun 10, 2013
Checks, Balances, and the National Security Agency
Mar 29, 2013
What the Government Should Disclose About Its Targeted Killing Program
Mar 12, 2013
American Torture and the 'Heroic Imagination'
Feb 4, 2013
The Justice Department’s White Paper on Targeted Killing
Jun 7, 2012
First the 'targeted killing' campaign, then the targeted propaganda campaign
May 1, 2012
Further Reflections About John Brennan's Targeted Killing Speech
Apr 18, 2012
ACLU Asks Supreme Court to Reject Government's Effort to Block Judicial Review of Surveillance Law
Mar 15, 2012
Sens. Wyden and Udall Weigh in on ACLU Patriot Act FOIA Case