Claire Eagan

Claire V. Eagan
Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Assumed office
February 13, 2013
Appointed by John Roberts
Preceded by Frederick A. Daugherty
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
In office
2005–2012
Preceded by Sven Erik Holmes
Succeeded by Gregory Kent Frizzell
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
Assumed office
October 4, 2001
Appointed by George W. Bush
Preceded by Thomas Rutherford Brett
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
In office
1998–2001
Personal details
Born Claire Eagan
1950 (age 67–68)
The Bronx, New York
Education Trinity Washington University (B.A.)
Fordham University School of Law (J.D.)
Occupation Attorney, Federal Judge
Profession Law

Claire V. Eagan (born 1950) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and also serves as a Judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Early life and education

Born in The Bronx, New York,[lower-alpha 1] Eagan graduated from Trinity Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972, and later from Fordham University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1976. At Fordham, Eagan was a commentary editor of the Fordham Law Review.[2]

Career

Eagan began her legal career working as a law clerk to Judge Allen Edward Barrow of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma from 1976 to 1978. [lower-alpha 2] She went into private practice attorney at the Hall Estill law firm in Tulsa,Oklahoma from 1978 to 1998.[lower-alpha 3]

Eagan served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma from 1998 until 2001.[2]

Federal judicial career

On the recommendation of Senators James Inhofe and Don Nickles, Eagan was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma by President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001, to a seat vacated by Thomas Rutherford Brett. Eagan was confirmed by the Senate on October 23, 2001, on a Senate vote and received her commission the next day. Eagan served as the Chief Judge of the Court from 2005 to 2012.[2]

Assignment to FISC

In February 2013 she was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), established in 1978 per the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Her term runs to May 2019.[3]

She was the author of the August 29, 2013, FISC opinion released on September 17, 2013, explaining that the call metadata collection program was constitutional, and thus "any decision about whether to keep it was a political question, not a legal one". The first FISC opinion written since the Snowden leaks (judges must reauthorize the program every 90 days[4] and generally they are "brief reiterations of the court’s legal analysis"), the lengthy 29-page opinion is thought to have been written "for the purpose of public release".[5] Eagan wrote "metadata that includes phone numbers, time and duration of calls is not protected by the Fourth Amendment, since the content of the calls is not accessed."[4] In the opinion, Eagan said "data collection is authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to issue orders to produce tangible things if there are reasonable grounds to believe the records are relevant to a terrorism investigation."[4] The opinion authorized the FBI to "collect the information for probes of 'unknown' as well as known terrorists."[4] She also noted that no U.S. telecommunications company had legally refused to turn over customer metadata, "despite the mechanism for doing so".[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Her middle initial stands for Veronica, which was not given to her at birth, but which she added later as a young woman when she took the sacrament of communion at her Confirmation.[1]
  2. ↑ Eagan said later, "I moved here with the intention of staying one year, but I've stayed almost 26 years. Once I got here, I loved it."[1]
  3. ↑ Eagan met Judge Fred Nelson, formerly chief judge on the Tulsa County District Court, but by 1978 was the head of litigation at Hall Estill. Nelson interviewed her for the job, became her supervisor and acted as her mentor until he died in July, 1987. Eagan told an interviewer in 2002, that Nelson was her ethical role model, and that he told her, "... you can't change the facts. All you can do is argue the facts and the law, and fight for the your client the best way you can."[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 McGuigan, Patrick B. "On Judge Eagan's middle name." NewsOK. January 27, 2002. Accessed May 16, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Eagan, Claire." FJC Bio Accessed May 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ "The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: 2013 Membership". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Weiss, Debra Cassens (September 18, 2013). "Surveillance court releases new opinion upholding NSA collection of phone data". ABA Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ Savage, Charlie (September 17, 2013). "Extended Ruling by Secret Court Backs Collection of Phone Data". New York Times.
  6. ↑ "U.S. FISC Amended Memorandum Opinion". Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Thomas Rutherford Brett		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
2001–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Frederick A. Daugherty		 Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
2013–present
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