Elliott J. Schuchardt

Elliott J. Schuchardt (born September 26, 1966) is an American civil liberties attorney.

Schuchardt is best known for filing a lawsuit against the federal government, which contends that the United States is unlawfully collecting and searching the national e-mail database.[1] That lawsuit is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In 2015, Schuchardt filed and argued the case that obtained the injunction that prevented Sweet Briar College, located in Amherst, Virginia, from closing its doors after more than a century.[2]

Government surveillance litigation

On June 5, 2013, former government contractor, Edward Snowden, publicly alleged that the United States government was storing and unlawfully searching e-mail of United States citizens.[3] Snowden claimed that the government's actions were a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from conducting a search of a person's private papers without first obtaining a warrant from a magistrate.[4] Snowden ultimately fled to Russia to avoid prosecution for disclosing this information.[5]

A year later, on June 2, 2014, attorney Elliott Schuchardt filed suit against President Barack Obama and several senior government officials contending that the federal government was improperly collecting and "data-mining" the national e-mail database.[6] The case is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, under docket number 2:14-cv-00705-CB.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed by the District Court on the ground that Schuchardt did not have standing to pursue the case. On October 5, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed, finding that Schuchardt had stated a prima facie case, and did have at least facial standing to continue with the lawsuit. The Third Circuit remanded the case to the District Court to consider the factual basis for Schuchardt's allegations more closely.[7]

While the case was pending, Schuchardt received the assistance of William Binney, a former technical director at the National Security Agency.[8] While at the NSA, Binney was responsible for handling all technical issues relating to the acquisition, development and distribution of "signals intelligence" for the agency's 6,000 analysts. These analysts were responsible for analysis and reporting for the entire world.[9] During 2000-01, Binney's team developed the program that first enabled the National Security Agency to datamine e-mail. His story is documented in the Oliver Stone film, A Good American.[10]

On July 5, 2017, Schuchardt filed with the District Court an affidavit prepared by William Binney. In the affidavit, Binney alleges that the United States government is both collecting and unlawfully searching the national e-mail database.[11] The District Court has not yet ruled on the government's renewed motion to dismiss.

On May 23, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit relied upon the Third Circuit's opinion in Schuchardt v. Obama, to reinstate the complaint in a similar lawsuit filed by the Wikimedia Foundation.[12]

On February 4, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania dismissed the case on standing grounds.[13] Schuchardt, working in cooperation with a group of retired intelligence officers, appealed the court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Sweet Briar College litigation

Sweet Briar College is a women's liberal arts college located in Amherst, Virginia.

On March 3, 2015, the President of the college, James F. Jones, announced that Sweet Briar would close after more than a century. In the announcement, Jones cited declining enrollment and an endowment insufficient to cover potentially large-scale changes needed to boost enrollment.[14]

On March 30, 2015, Schuchardt filed a lawsuit against Sweet Briar College on behalf of Jessica Campbell, an alumna of the college. The lawsuit alleged that Sweet Briar's decision to close had damaged the value of Campbell's university degree. Schuchardt subsequently filed an amended complaint on behalf of a number of current and former students of the college.[15]

On April 29, 2015, Schuchardt obtained an injunction on behalf of the student / alumnae group, which prevented Sweet Briar College's board from taking any further action to close the school.[16]

Schuchardt's group later participated in negotiations involving the board of directors of Sweet Briar College, the Virginia Attorney General's Office, the County Attorney for Amherst County, Virginia, and an alumnae group called "Saving Sweet Briar.[17]

On June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General's office announced a mediated agreement to keep Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year. The agreement called for Sweet Briar College president James Jones to resign.[18] Sweet Briar College remains open today.

National Rifle Association Litigation

Schuchardt currently represents millionaire activist, David Dell'Aquila, in a class action lawsuit filed against the National Rifle Association and its President, Wayne LaPierre.[19]

David Dell’Aquila, a Nashville-based retired technology consultant who has given roughly $100,000 to the NRA, had previously pledged give “the bulk of an estate worth several million dollars" to the NRA.[20]

The complaint in the case contends that the National Rifle Association and its President, Wayne LaPierre, fraudulently solicited donations from donors during the period from 2016 through 2019, because the NRA knew that the donations would not be used for the purposes solicited. [21]

Awards & Recognition
  • In 2015, Sweet Briar College recognized attorney Schuchardt as having played a major role in preventing the college from closing.[22]
  • In 2016, Schuchardt was invited to speak at a seminar at the British House of Lords concerning the government surveillance litigation.[23]

Personal Life

Schuchardt lives and practices law in Knoxville, Tennessee. As of April 2020, he is admitted to practice law in three states and five federal districts. Schuchardt is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association.

gollark: have you *read* the potatOS privacy policy?
gollark: (your bad ones)
gollark: Maybe yours don't.
gollark: 2024.
gollark: When has ++remind ever failed?

References
  1. Cyrus Farivar, "Lone lawyer sues Obama, alleging illegality of surveillance programs," ARS Technica, Oct. 23, 2014, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/lone-lawyer-sues-obama-alleging-illegality-of-surveillance-programs/
  2. Jessie Pounds, "Judge orders six-month injunction stopping Sweet Briar College from disposing of assets," News & Advance, Apr. 29, 2015. http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/judge-orders-six-month-injunction-stopping-sweet-briar-college-from/article_b7ec850a-eeb5-11e4-bc56-d7e0e31be09f.html
  3. Greenwald, Glenn; MacAskill, Ewen; Poitras, Laura (June 10, 2013). "Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013.
  4. U.S. Const., 4th Amend.
  5. Ashley Fantz, Phil Black and Michael Martinez, "Snowden out of airport, still in Moscow," CNN, Aug. 1, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/01/us/nsa-snowden/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
  6. Cyrus Farivar, "Lone lawyer sues Obama, alleging illegality of surveillance programs," ARS Technica, Oct. 23, 2014, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/lone-lawyer-sues-obama-alleging-illegality-of-surveillance-programs/
  7. Melissa Sachs, "Lawyer's PRISM Surveillance Suit Pushes Forward," Thompson Reuters Legal Solutions Blog, Oct. 18, 2016. http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/current-awareness-2/lawyers-prism-surveillance-suit-pushes-forward/; Cyrus Farivar, "Appeals Court Restores Previously-Dismissed Surveillance Lawsuit," ARS Technica, Oct. 8, 2016. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/appeals-court-restores-previously-dismissed-surveillance-lawsuit/; Dan Taylor, "Lawsuit Against Feds Warrantless Wiretapping Wins in Appeals Court," Washington DC Patch, Oct. 6, 2016. http://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/lawsuit-against-feds-warrantless-wiretapping-wins-appeals-court; Brian Bowling, "Former Pittsburgh attorney can proceed with lawsuit over fed communications monitoring, court rules," Trib Live, Oct. 5, 2016. http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/11261494-74/schuchardt-court-lawsuit; Daniel Wilson, "3d Circuit Revives Challenge to NSA Email Surveillance," Law 360, Oct. 5, 2016. http://www.law360.com/articles/848733/3rd-circ-revives-challenge-to-nsa-email-surveillance; Tim Cushing, "Appeal Court Revives Lawyer's Lawsuit Against The NSA's Email Dragnet," Tech Dirt, Oct. 14, 2016, https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161009/07195635752/appeal-court-revives-lawyers-lawsuit-against-nsas-email-dragnet.shtml, Caleb Kruckenberg, "Yeah, We Read Your E-mails, What Are You Going to Do About It?" Mimesis Law, Oct. 11, 2017, http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/yeah-we-read-your-e-mails-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it/13418
  8. "NSA whistleblower William Binney joins Courage’s Advisory Board," Courage, Oct. 20, 2016, https://couragefound.org/2016/10/nsa-whistleblower-william-binney-joins-courages-advisory-board/
  9. Affidavit of William Binney, filed in Schuchardt v. Obama, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Case No. 2:14-cv-00705-CB.
  10. Leonsis, Elle (9 November 2015). "Watch: Exclusive 'A Good American' Trailer Sells Our Freedom For Money". Indie Wire. Penske Business Media.; name="Matheou2015">Matheou, Demetrios (9 November 2015). "A Good American review: fascinating revelations about the NSA's role in 9/11". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  11. Affidavit of William Binney, filed in Schuchardt v. Obama, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Case No. 2:14-cv-00705-CB; Eric Ortiz, "In a Lawsuit Affidavit, NSA Whistleblower William Binney Confirms U.S. Government Spies on Citizens," TruthDig, July 10, 2017, https://www.truthdig.com/articles/in-a-lawsuit-affidavit-nsa-whistleblower-william-binney-confirms-u-s-government-spies-on-citizens/
  12. Charlie Savage, "Federal Court Revives Wikimedia’s Challenge to N.S.A. Surveillance," NY Times, May 23, 2017 (Schuchardt case referenced in last hyperlink in article), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/us/politics/nsa-surveillance-warrantless-wikimedia.html?_r=0; Nelson, Steven (23 May 2017). "Appeals Court: Wikimedia Can Fight NSA's 'Not Speculative' Internet Surveillance". U.S. World and News Report. Retrieved 24 May 2017.; Jordan Brunner, Quinta Jurecic, Yishai Schwartz, "The Fourth Circuit Remands Wikimedia’s Suit Against the NSA Back to District Court," Lawfare, May 26, 2017, https://www.lawfareblog.com/fourth-circuit-remands-wikimedias-suit-against-nsa-back-district-court
  13. See Opinion and Order, dated February 4, 2019 in Schuchardt v. Trump, Case No. 14-705.
  14. Kapsidelis, Karin. "Sweet Briar College to close". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  15. Martha Neil, "Stop efforts to close Sweet Briar, lawsuits by county attorney and alumna urge Virginia court," ABA Journal, Mar. 31, 2015. http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/stop_efforts_to_close_sweet_briar_lawsuits_by_county_attorney_and_alumna_ur
  16. Jessie Pounds, "Judge orders six-month injunction stopping Sweet Briar College from disposing of assets," News & Advance, Apr. 29, 2015. http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/judge-orders-six-month-injunction-stopping-sweet-briar-college-from/article_b7ec850a-eeb5-11e4-bc56-d7e0e31be09f.html
  17. "Jesse Pounds, "Sweet Briar College: Groups Opposing Its Closing to Meet With Virginia Attorney General's Office," Roanoke Times, May 5, 2015. http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/sweet-briar-college-groups-opposing-its-closing-to-meet-with/article_130ed30b-1d9b-516f-873d-0618efee836c.html; Karin Kapsidelis, "Lawyers in Sweet Briar Dispute Meet at Attorney General's Office," Richmond Times Dispatch, May 6, 2015. http://www.richmond.com/news/article_892aa00c-8a5c-590f-b0d2-64aef81e1848.html
  18. Susan Svrluga (June 22, 2015). "Sweet Briar survives: Judge approves settlement deal to keep the college open". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  19. Danny Hakim, "N.R.A. Donor Directs a Revolt Against a ‘Radioactive’ Leader," N.Y. Times, July 2, 2019; see also Notice of Appearance filed by Schuchardt in Dell'Aquila v. LaPierre, Case No. 3:19-cv-00679 (M.D. Tenn. 2019).
  20. Danny Hakim, "N.R.A. Donor Directs a Revolt Against a ‘Radioactive’ Leader," N.Y. Times, July 2, 2019; Lisa Marie Pane, "NRA turmoil creates rift among some big donors," Washington Times, Nov. 10, 2019, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/nov/10/nra-turmoil-creates-rift-among-some-big-donors/
  21. Asher Stockler, "NRA Donor Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit, Accuses Gun Rights Group of Fraud and Financial Waste," Newsweek, Aug. 8, 2019, https://www.newsweek.com/nra-lawsuit-lapierre-north-fraud-1453280; Mark Maremount, "NRA Donor Files Suit Over CEO’s Expenses," Wall Street Journal, Aug. 7, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/nra-donor-files-suit-over-ceos-expenses-11565221846.
  22. See Letter from Sweet Briar College to attorney Elliott J. Schuchardt, dated September 15, 2015, concerning awards ceremony in connection with Sweet Briar College case.
  23. See Letter from Kevin Cahill, Special Adviser to Lord Laird of Artigarvan, to attorney Elliott J. Schuchardt, dated Nov. 11, 2016, concerning invitation to speak.
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