On September 26 , 2007 , Judge Aiken declared unconstitutional two portions of the USA PATRIOT Act that deal with the government 's power to conduct certain surveillance without first obtaining a warrant . The decision received national attention and came in the case of the Brandon Mayfield lawsuit against the federal government for false detainment following the 2004 Madrid train bombings , in which Mayfield was uninvolved in the bombings . In the decision , Aiken held that those provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
2004 Madrid train bombings
2004 Madrid train bombings
Ann Aiken