“The court” in Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial is a shadowy tribunal that tries (and executes) Josef K., the story’s protagonist, without informing him of the crime he’s charged with, the witnesses against him, or how he can defend himself. (Worth noting: The FISA court doesn’t “try” anyone. Also, it doesn’t kill people.)
Congress is debating a bill that would make the FISA court more transparent. In the meantime, can you tell the difference between the FISA court and Kafka’s court?
Lawyers who have practiced before the FISA court do report not being able to read all of the classified filings against their clients. But this also applies in Kafka's court.
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"}],"answerKey":["e05d5858-98e6-4d8a-8e9c-4fab3a1c88c8"],"createdDate":1432248789078,"lastUpdated":1432250589904,"multipleSelectionAmount":0,"time":"01:00","min":"01","secs":"00"},{"questionId":"41680891-4ebb-44ed-9912-fc76484a2e82","questionText":"Lawyers have to respond to secret government filings – without reading them. ","excludeFromTrivia":false,"options":[{"optionId":"4d654322-adc6-4bf2-ba8a-1ddaadb42319","optionText":"FISA court","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"This happens in the FISA court, but it also occurs in The Trial. "},{"optionId":"db4c0393-417a-4007-b58a-caa7e2652875","optionText":"Kafka court","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"This happens in The Trial, but it also happens to real lawyers practicing in the FISA court. "},{"optionId":"9c6674a9-1d76-4cce-bffb-7661687e94c9","optionText":"Both","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"CORRECT","comment":"This another thing the FISA court and Kafka's court have in common. "}],"answerKey":["9c6674a9-1d76-4cce-bffb-7661687e94c9"],"createdDate":1432248789081,"lastUpdated":1432250589907,"multipleSelectionAmount":0,"time":"01:00","min":"01","secs":"00"},{"questionId":"a38a3e42-1e55-4c67-992d-855ea043e5ea","questionText":"Section II. The FISA court has been the subject of intense debate in Congress and the federal courts. Which of these are quotes from real government officials discussing the FISA court, and which are direct quotes from The Trial?In 2013, a private attorney who argued before the FISA court, Marc Zwillinger, testified about the experience before an independent oversight board. Which of the following is an actual statement from his testimony? ","excludeFromTrivia":false,"options":[{"optionId":"9fd023f8-c601-4569-8381-1ce4eb378702","optionText":"\"filing documents with the court... has always been a little bit like trying to get a letter to Santa Claus\"","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"CORRECT","comment":"This is an actual thing he said. "},{"optionId":"25427e81-5500-462f-87cd-3643c0ef8946","optionText":"“Where’s my secret decoder ring?”","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Sorry, we made that one up. The correct answer was "filing documents with the court... has always been a little bit like trying to get a letter to Santa Claus." "},{"optionId":"09cf8925-8e15-4370-9386-6f964a8a8fe7","optionText":"“Arguing before the court can be fun, if you like debating people while wearing noise-cancelling headphones.\"","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Sorry, we made that one up. The correct answer was "filing documents with the court... has always been a little bit like trying to get a letter to Santa Claus." "},{"optionId":"eb6ecdcf-8022-4f25-b1a6-684509678632","optionText":"“You asked me if I’ve spoken to a FISA court judge. I don’t know, have I met Keyser Söze?\"","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Sorry, we made that one up. The correct answer was "filing documents with the court... has always been a little bit like trying to get a letter to Santa Claus." "}],"answerKey":["9fd023f8-c601-4569-8381-1ce4eb378702"],"createdDate":1432249480683,"lastUpdated":1432250589923,"multipleSelectionAmount":0,"time":"01:00","min":"01","secs":"00"},{"questionId":"51dd3e29-ff47-4be5-b7ff-08159b712810","questionText":"In The Trial, an expert on that court declares: “I must admit, I never saw a single actual acquittal.” Historically, what percentage of government surveillance applications does the FISA court reject? ","excludeFromTrivia":false,"options":[{"optionId":"e62a77d0-43d1-48d6-a0b9-5a105b742e49","optionText":"10%","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"According to the Wall Street Journal, from 1979 to 2012, the FISC rejected 11 of the more than 33,900 government surveillance applications, a rejection rate of 0.03%. "},{"optionId":"defab074-2f3a-4cb0-8e7d-54714af12aa8","optionText":"1%","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"According to the Wall Street Journal, from 1979 to 2012, the FISC rejected 11 of the more than 33,900 government surveillance applications, a rejection rate of 0.03%. "},{"optionId":"cd039cc0-6ed7-41ad-913c-2ad0d43bb7fd","optionText":".1%","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"According to the Wall Street Journal, from 1979 to 2012, the FISC rejected 11 of the more than 33,900 government surveillance applications, a rejection rate of 0.03%. "},{"optionId":"cc8242e4-afb5-4b69-a433-3fa6195e0ec5","optionText":"Less than .1%","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"CORRECT","comment":"According to the Wall Street Journal, from 1979 to 2012, the FISC rejected 11 of the more than 33,900 government surveillance applications, a rejection rate of 0.03%. "}],"answerKey":["cc8242e4-afb5-4b69-a433-3fa6195e0ec5"],"createdDate":1432249480686,"lastUpdated":1432250589927,"multipleSelectionAmount":0,"time":"01:00","min":"01","secs":"00"},{"questionId":"e1424101-98cf-47f8-aac4-7d21244e3cd2","questionText":"The decisions of the FISA court, like those of the court in The Trial, are secret by default. A few months before the Snowden disclosures, four senators asked the FISA court to declassify summaries of some of those opinions. What did the court’s presiding judge say in response? ","excludeFromTrivia":false,"options":[{"optionId":"bfab1de9-4ad7-476d-b310-ee0bb2159f17","optionText":"Summaries will likely confuse the public.","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Well, sort of -- the correct answer was "all of the above." "},{"optionId":"fa928c63-4bde-4c81-8745-66a66e3c636a","optionText":"It’s difficult for a judge to summarize the work of another judge.","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Well, sort of -- the correct answer was "all of the above." "},{"optionId":"21ee6558-0f24-4645-b0d1-af074512ec05","optionText":"The court lacks the resources to write summaries.","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Well, sort of -- the correct answer was "all of the above." "},{"optionId":"fee8cb1b-437c-40eb-9741-f400e4a2c4be","optionText":"Deleting the secrets in an opinion will leave only “a remnant void of much or any useful meaning.”","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"WRONG","comment":"Well, sort of -- the correct answer was "all of the above." "},{"optionId":"dad19328-fed6-4b09-bb2a-eacd3f367892","optionText":"All of the above.","hasComment":true,"commentTitle":"CORRECT","comment":"Yup."}],"answerKey":["dad19328-fed6-4b09-bb2a-eacd3f367892"],"createdDate":1432249480688,"lastUpdated":1432250589930,"multipleSelectionAmount":0,"time":"01:00","min":"01","secs":"00"}],"allowDuplicate":false,"results":[]},"apiRoot":"https://quiz.washingtonpost.com/quiz/games/webapi"}
Section I. Every court has rules and procedures. Do the following describe proceedings in the FISA court, Kafka’s court, or both?
Judges hear only one side of the case – the government’s.
Lawyers are barred from reading secret government filings about their clients.
Lawyers have to respond to secret government filings – without reading them.
Section II. The FISA court has been the subject of intense debate in Congress and the federal courts. Which of these are quotes from real government officials discussing the FISA court, and which are direct quotes from The Trial?
"The public cannot argue that the… opinion should be released until it has seen the opinion, and it cannot see the opinion until it has been released.”
“The targets of their proceedings are ordinarily not represented by counsel. Indeed it seems likely that targets are usually unaware of the existence of the proceedings...”
"The courts don’t make their final conclusions public, not even the judges are allowed to know about them, so that all we know about these earlier cases are just legends.”
In 2013, a private attorney who argued before the FISA court, Marc Zwillinger, testified about the experience before an independent oversight board. Which of the following is an actual statement from his testimony?
In The Trial, an expert on that court declares: “I must admit, I never saw a single actual acquittal.” Historically, what percentage of government surveillance applications does the FISA court reject?
The decisions of the FISA court, like those of the court in The Trial, are secret by default. A few months before the Snowden disclosures, four senators asked the FISA court to declassify summaries of some of those opinions. What did the court’s presiding judge say in response?
Your score: 0 / 11
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Alvaro Bedoya is executive director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law. From 2011 to 2014, he was chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, and to its then-chairman, Senator Al Franken.
Ben Sobel is a researcher and incoming Google Policy Fellow at the Center.