Bio
Patrick Toomey () is the deputy director of the ACLU National Security Project, where he works on issues related to privacy and surveillance, racial and ethnic discrimination, and the use of novel technologies like artificial intelligence. His litigation and advocacy often focus on national security prosecutions or policies where these issues intersect. Patrick has litigated high-profile cases challenging sweeping surveillance programs operated by U.S. intelligence agencies, and has represented Asian American scientists who have been wrongly investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. government. Patrick's writing and commentary on national security and civil liberties issues appear regularly in the media. Patrick is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Nancy Gertner, United States district judge for the District of Massachusetts, and to the Hon. Barrington D. Parker, United States circuit judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the ACLU, Patrick worked on criminal defense, regulatory defense, and intellectual property matters at a law firm in New York.
Featured work
Aug 22, 2018
The NSA Continues to Violate Americans' Internet Privacy Rights
Jun 29, 2018
The NSA Is Using Secrecy to Avoid a Courtroom Reckoning on Its Global Surveillance Dragnet
May 15, 2017
We’re Demanding Records on Comey’s Dismissal. Here’s Why.
Mar 5, 2017
Trump's Wiretapping Accusations: Here's What the Government Can Actually Do
Feb 10, 2017
The ACLU Is in Dublin, Ireland, Today Defending the Right to Privacy for Europeans and Americans Alike
Nov 21, 2016
President Obama Will Soon Turn Over the Keys to the Surveillance State to President-Elect Trump
Oct 19, 2016
The Constitution Leaves No Room for Secret Law
Sep 23, 2016
Unprecedented and Unlawful: The NSA’s 'Upstream' Surveillance
Apr 7, 2016
The Obama Administration Has Embraced Legal Theories Even Broader Than John Yoo’s