This bill modifies federal law to allow law enforcement officials to issue administrative subpoenas with accompanying "gag orders" that prevent recipients from disclosing that they received the subpoena, without first obtaining court approval. The bill applies to child predator investigations and other serious cases where officials certify that disclosure could endanger lives, enable flight from prosecution, destroy evidence, intimidate witnesses, or jeopardize investigations. Recipients can still disclose the subpoena to their attorneys or to people who need to know to comply with it, though those people also become bound by the nondisclosure requirement. The law establishes a judicial review process allowing subpoena recipients to challenge the gag order in federal district court, and courts can extend the initial 180-day nondisclosure period if circumstances warrant. The bill transfers authority for issuing these subpoenas from the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.