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Executive Order 12139 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12139—Foreign Intelligence Electronic Surveillance

Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter
•
Wednesday, May 23, 1979
•
2 min read (385 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Jimmy Carter on 1979-05-23, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Foreign Intelligence Electronic Surveillance." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ 12036 is amended by inserting the following at the end of that section: "Any electronic surveillance, as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, shall be conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order.".

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
Total Words
385
2,449 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.9
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12139, Jimmy Carter (May 23, 1979). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12139-foreign-intelligence-electronic-surveillance.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President by Sections 102 and 104 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802 and 1804), in order to provide as set forth in that Act for the authorization of electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a) (1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a) ), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section. 1-102. Pursuant to Section 102(b) of the Foreign Intelligence Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802 (b)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve applications to the court having jurisdiction under Section 103 of that Act to obtain orders for electronic surveillance for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence information. 1-103. Pursuant to Section 104(a) (7) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804(a) (7)), the following officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national security or defense, is designated to make the certifications required by Section 104 (a) (7) of the Act in support of applications to conduct electronic surveillance: (a) Secretary of State. (b) Secretary of Defense. (c) Director of Central Intelligence. (d) Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (e) Deputy Secretary of State. (f) Deputy Secretary of Defense. (g) Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. 1-104. Section 2-202 of Executive Order No. 12036 is amended by inserting the following at the end of that section: "Any electronic surveillance, as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, shall be conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order.". 1-105. Section 2-203 of Executive Order No. 12036 is amended by inserting the following at the end of that section: "Any monitoring which constitutes electronic surveillance as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 shall be conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order." JIMMY CARTER The White House, May 23, 1979.