A Manhattan federal court judge ruled on Thursday that an anti-terrorism tool, known as a National Security Letter, cannot require that recipients remain mum on the existence of such requests without posing significant constitutional problems.

In a 106-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero stated the despite recent changes to the USA PATRIOT Act to further restrict the use of National Security Letters (NSLs) with accompanying gag orders, the prior restraint on speech violates the First Amendment to the Constitution. The judge worried that the government had removed the burden from law-enforcement officers to justify to the courts the use of the gag provision of a National Security Letter and eliminated the checks-and-balances that judicial oversight would allow.

"In light of the seriousness of the potential intrusion into the individual's personal affairs and the significant possibility of a chilling effect on speech and association -- particularly of expression that is critical of the government or its policies," Judge Marrero wrote. "A compelling need exists to ensure that the use of NSLs is subject to the safeguards of public accountability, checks and balances, and separation of powers that our Constitution prescribes."

Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act in 2001, granting law enforcement the power to request information on phone calls and e-mail correspondence from electronic communication service providers. In 2006, Congress reauthorized and amended portions of the law to only allow government agents to require that NSL recipients remain silent on the existence of such orders only if the Director of the FBI or a special agent-in-charge designated by the Director has certified that such disclosure would be dangerous.

Following the reauthorization of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Justice reported that the use of National Security Letters had climbed quickly at the FBI. The federal law enforcement agency used NSL requests 39,000 times in 2003, 56,000 times in 2004 and 47,000 times in 2005, according to the OIG report.

Judge Marrero stayed the ruling until the government can appeal.

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