18 U.S.C. § 3511 — Judicial review of requests for informa-

Page 784 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 3511 States district court shall not order any victim of an offense excluded from the trial of a defend- ant accused of that offense because such victim may, during the sentencing hearing, testify as to the effect of the offense on the victim and the victim’s family or as to any other factor for which notice is required under section 3593(a). (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term ‘‘victim’’ includes all persons defined as victims in section 503(e)(2) of the Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act of 1990. (Added Pub. L. 105–6, § 2(a), Mar. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 12.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 503(e)(2) of the Victims’ Rights and Restitu- tion Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (c), is classified to section 20141(e)(2) of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 105–6, § 2(d), Mar. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 13, pro- vided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this section [en- acting this section and amending section 3593 of this title] shall apply in cases pending on the date of the en- actment of this Act [Mar. 19, 1997].’’ § 3511. Judicial review of requests for informa- tion (a) The recipient of a request for records, a re- port, or other information under section 2709(b) of this title, section 626(a) or (b) or 627(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act, or sec- tion 802(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 may, in the United States district court for the district in which that person or entity does busi- ness or resides, petition for an order modifying or setting aside the request. The court may modify or set aside the request if compliance would be unreasonable, oppressive, or otherwise unlawful. (b) NONDISCLOSURE.— (1) IN GENERAL.— (A) NOTICE.—If a recipient of a request or order for a report, records, or other informa- tion under section 2709 of this title, section 626 or 627 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681u and 1681v), section 1114 of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3414), or section 802 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3162), wishes to have a court review a nondisclosure re- quirement imposed in connection with the request or order, the recipient may notify the Government or file a petition for judicial review in any court described in subsection (a). (B) APPLICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of a notification under subparagraph (A), the Government shall apply for an order prohibiting the dis- closure of the existence or contents of the relevant request or order. An application under this subparagraph may be filed in the district court of the United States for the ju- dicial district in which the recipient of the order is doing business or in the district court of the United States for any judicial district within which the authorized inves- tigation that is the basis for the request is being conducted. The applicable nondisclo- sure requirement shall remain in effect dur- ing the pendency of proceedings relating to the requirement. (C) CONSIDERATION.—A district court of the United States that receives a petition under subparagraph (A) or an application under subparagraph (B) should rule expeditiously, and shall, subject to paragraph (3), issue a nondisclosure order that includes conditions appropriate to the circumstances. (2) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—An application for a nondisclosure order or extension thereof or a response to a petition filed under para- graph (1) shall include a certification from the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, an Assistant Attorney General, or the Direc- tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a designee in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant Director at Bureau headquarters or a Special Agent in Charge in a Bureau field of- fice designated by the Director, or in the case of a request by a department, agency, or in- strumentality of the Federal Government other than the Department of Justice, the head or deputy head of the department, agen- cy, or instrumentality, containing a state- ment of specific facts indicating that the ab- sence of a prohibition of disclosure under this subsection may result in— (A) a danger to the national security of the United States; (B) interference with a criminal, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence in- vestigation; (C) interference with diplomatic relations; or (D) danger to the life or physical safety of any person. (3) STANDARD.—A district court of the United States shall issue a nondisclosure order or extension thereof under this subsection if the court determines that there is reason to believe that disclosure of the information sub- ject to the nondisclosure requirement during the applicable time period may result in— (A) a danger to the national security of the United States; (B) interference with a criminal, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence in- vestigation; (C) interference with diplomatic relations; or (D) danger to the life or physical safety of any person. (c) In the case of a failure to comply with a re- quest for records, a report, or other information made to any person or entity under section 2709(b) of this title, section 626(a) or (b) or 627(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act, or section 802(a) of the National Security Act of 1947, the Attorney General may invoke the aid of any district court of the United States within the jurisdiction in which the investiga- tion is carried on or the person or entity resides, Page 785 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 3512 carries on business, or may be found, to compel compliance with the request. The court may issue an order requiring the person or entity to comply with the request. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as contempt thereof. Any process under this sec- tion may be served in any judicial district in which the person or entity may be found. (d) In all proceedings under this section, sub- ject to any right to an open hearing in a con- tempt proceeding, the court must close any hearing to the extent necessary to prevent an unauthorized disclosure of a request for records, a report, or other information made to any per- son or entity under section 2709(b) of this title, section 626(a) or (b) or 627(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act, or section 802(a) of the National Security Act of 1947. Petitions, filings, records, orders, and subpoenas must also be kept under seal to the extent and as long as necessary to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of a re- quest for records, a report, or other information made to any person or entity under section 2709(b) of this title, section 626(a) or (b) or 627(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act, or section 802(a) of the National Security Act of 1947. (e) In all proceedings under this section, the court shall, upon request of the government, re- view ex parte and in camera any government submission or portions thereof, which may in- clude classified information. (Added Pub. L. 109–177, title I, § 115(2), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 211; amended Pub. L. 114–23, title V, § 502(g), June 2, 2015, 129 Stat. 288.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Sections 626(a), (b) and 627(a) of the Fair Credit Re- porting Act, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c), and (d), are classified to sections 1681u(a), (b) and 1681v(a), respec- tively, of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. Section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Pri- vacy Act, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c), and (d), prob- ably means section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Finan- cial Privacy Act of 1978, which is classified to section 3414(a)(5)(A) of Title 12, Banks and Banking. Section 802(a) of the National Security Act of 1947, re- ferred to in subsecs. (a), (c), and (d), is classified to sec- tion 3162(a) of Title 50, War and National Defense. AMENDMENTS 2015—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–23 added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which related to petitions for court orders modifying or setting aside a nondisclo- sure requirement imposed in connection with a request for records, reports, or other information. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REPORTS ON NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS Pub. L. 109–177, title I, § 118, Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 217, as amended by Pub. L. 114–23, title VI, § 602(c), June 2, 2015, 129 Stat. 294, provided that: ‘‘(a) EXISTING REPORTS.—Any report made to a com- mittee of Congress regarding national security letters under section 2709(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, section 626(d) or 627(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681u(d) or 1681v(c)), section 1114(a)(3) or 1114(a)(5)(D) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act [of 1978] (12 U.S.C. 3414(a)(3) or 3414(a)(5)(D)), or section 802(b) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 436(b) [now 50 U.S.C. 3162(b)]) shall also be made to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Rep- resentatives and the Senate. ‘‘(b) ENHANCED OVERSIGHT OF FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT COUNTERTERRORISM NATIONAL SECURITY LETTER.— [Amended section 1681v of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.] ‘‘(c) REPORT ON REQUESTS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In April of each year, the Attor- ney General shall submit to Congress an aggregate report setting forth with respect to the preceding year the total number of requests made by the De- partment of Justice for information concerning dif- ferent persons under— ‘‘(A) section 2709 of title 18, United States Code (to access certain communication service provider records); ‘‘(B) section 1114 of the Right to Financial Pri- vacy Act [of 1978] (12 U.S.C. 3414) (to obtain finan- cial institution customer records); ‘‘(C) section 802 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 436) [now 50 U.S.C. 3162] (to obtain fi- nancial information, records, and consumer re- ports); ‘‘(D) section 626 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681u) (to obtain certain financial infor- mation and consumer reports); and ‘‘(E) section 627 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681v) (to obtain credit agency consumer records for counterterrorism investigations). ‘‘(2) CONTENT.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subpara- graph (B), each report required under this sub- section shall include a good faith estimate of the total number of requests described in paragraph (1) requiring disclosure of information concerning— ‘‘(i) United States persons; and ‘‘(ii) persons who are not United States persons. ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—With respect to the number of requests for subscriber information under section 2709 of title 18, United States Code, a report re- quired under this subsection need not separate the number of requests into each of the categories de- scribed in subparagraph (A). ‘‘(3) UNCLASSIFIED FORM.—The report under this sec- tion shall be submitted in unclassified form. ‘‘(d) NATIONAL SECURITY LETTER DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘national security letter’ means a re- quest for information under one of the following provi- sions of law: ‘‘(1) Section 2709(a) of title 18, United States Code (to access certain communication service provider records). ‘‘(2) Section 1114(a)(5)(A) of the Right to Financial Privacy Act [of 1978] (12 U.S.C. 3414(a)(5)(A)) (to ob- tain financial institution customer records). ‘‘(3) Section 802 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 436) [now 50 U.S.C. 3162] (to obtain financial information, records, and consumer reports). ‘‘(4) Section 626 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681u) (to obtain certain financial information and consumer reports). ‘‘(5) Section 627 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681v) (to obtain credit agency consumer records for counterterrorism investigations).’’ § 3512. Foreign requests for assistance in crimi- nal investigations and prosecutions (a) EXECUTION OF REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon application, duly au- thorized by an appropriate official of the De- partment of Justice, of an attorney for the Government, a Federal judge may issue such orders as may be necessary to execute a re- quest from a foreign authority for assistance