15 April 2005

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Thanks to Intelligence Digest

Information from: The Charlotte Observer,
Article published Apr 13, 2005

NC federal judge named to secret spy court

The Associated Press

A federal judge who was a legal adviser to President Nixon during 
Watergate has been named to the secret federal court that authorizes 
wiretaps and search warrants used to nab spies and terrorists.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed District 
Judge Malcolm Howard to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 
this month. The court, created in 1978, deals with cases involving a 
foreign power or an agent of a foreign government.

The spy court holds its proceedings in a windowless, secured court at 
the Justice Department and deals with requests for electronic 
surveillance and intelligence searches.

Since the inception of the Patriot Act in 2001, the scope of the 
11-member court has expanded to include suspected terrorists. The 
court has national jurisdiction when authorizing surveillance measures.

Howard, 65, said he is "proud and honored" to serve on the court. He 
plans to continue to hear cases in his federal courtroom in Greenville.

Howard is a Lenoir county native and a 1962 West Point graduate who 
served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He graduated from Wake Forest Law 
School in 1970 and worked as a federal prosecutor.

Howard was a deputy special counsel for Nixon during Watergate, and was 
appointed to the federal bench in 1988 by President Reagan.

Howard has dealt with high profile North Carolina cases, including the 
campaign finance prosecutions of former state agriculture commissioner 
Meg Scott Phipps and her underlings. He also presided over the cases 
involving a tobacco fraud scheme that collected more than $28 million 
from illegal leaf sales in North Carolina and other Southeast states; 
and a nuclear power engineer convicted of trying to export North 
Carolina-made speedboats to North Korea.

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