Two new judges have been selected to join the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, according to court spokesman Sheldon Snook.
Senior Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Susan Webber Wright of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas will each begin seven-year terms on the 11-member court. They will replace U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of Columbia and U.S. District Judge Robert Broomfield of Arizona.
Judges on the secretive court, established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, are appointed by the chief justice of the United States. In March, U.S. District Judge John Bates of the District of Columbia was promoted to chief of the FISA court, taking over for Kollar-Kotelly.
Hogan was appointed to the U.S. District Court in 1982, and served as chief judge in D.C. from 2001 until May 2008. After taking senior status, he handled the creation of a case management order for the 220 Guantanamo Bay habeas petitions filed at the district court.
Wright, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1989, is perhaps best known for dismissing Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton, as well as for presiding over many legal issues arising out of the Whitewater investigation.
The FISA court was created by Congress in 1978 to oversee and approve sensitive intelligence gathering activities. Its 11 judges rotate through week-long details on the court.
The appointments were first reported yesterday on the Secrecy News Blog.
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