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
Nov 20, 2013
How a Secret Court's Backwards Logic Opened the Floodgates for NSA Spying
Oct 18, 2013
In Reversal, DOJ Poised to Give Notice of Warrantless Wiretapping
Sep 30, 2013
It Sure Sounds Like the NSA Is Tracking Our Locations
Aug 12, 2013
"Let's Put The Whole Elephant Out There": President Obama's Speech and Bulk Searches of Americans’ Emails
Aug 12, 2013
The NSA is turning the internet into a total surveillance system
Aug 6, 2013
Government Reverses Course on Warrantless Wiretapping in Criminal Case, Admits Duty to Notify Defendants
Aug 2, 2013
Raiding the "Corporate Store": The NSA's Unfettered Access to a Vast Pool of Americans' Phone Data
Jul 16, 2013
NYT: Government Failing to Keep Promises to Supreme Court on Warrantless Wiretapping
Jul 3, 2013
The NSA's Spying On Americans: Not As "Inadvertent" As It Claims
Jun 25, 2013
Government Engages In Shell Game To Avoid Review Of Warrantless Wiretapping