Hepting

These consolidated appeals arise from claims that major telecommunications carriers assisted the government with intelligence gathering following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. News reports that the National Security Agency (“NSA”) undertook a warrantless eavesdropping program with alleged cooperation by telecommunications companies spawned dozens of lawsuits by customers against the companies, along with multiple suits against the NSA and other government actors. Tash Hepting and other residential telephone customers (collectively “Hepting”) challenge the legality of the companies’ participation in the surveillance program. Partially in response to these suits, Congress held hearings and ultimately passed legislation that provided retroactive immunity to the companies, subject to various conditions, but expressly left intact potential claims against the government. The sole issue before us is the constitutionality of § 802 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”), 50 U.S.C. § 1885a, known as the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which allows for immunity for the telecommunication companies. Like the district court, we conclude that § 802 passes…