Bio
Patrick Toomey (@PatrickCToomey) is the deputy director of the ACLU National Security Project, where he works on issues related to privacy and surveillance, racial and ethnic discrimination, and the use of novel technologies like artificial intelligence. His litigation and advocacy often focus on national security prosecutions or policies where these issues intersect. Patrick has litigated high-profile cases challenging sweeping surveillance programs operated by U.S. intelligence agencies, and has represented Asian American scientists who have been wrongly investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. government. Patrick’s writing and commentary on national security and civil liberties issues appear regularly in the media. Patrick is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Nancy Gertner, United States district judge for the District of Massachusetts, and to the Hon. Barrington D. Parker, United States circuit judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the ACLU, Patrick worked on criminal defense, regulatory defense, and intellectual property matters at a law firm in New York.
Featured work
Apr 25, 2024
How is One of America's Biggest Spy Agencies Using AI? We're Suing to Find Out.
![The National Security Agency seal is displayed on a mobile phone screen.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/04/nsa-seal-on-cellphone-screen-b-400x400.jpg)
Nov 4, 2021
Can the Government Wrongfully Spy on You and Get Away With It?
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-27-at-10.30.10-PM-400x400.png)
Sep 7, 2021
The Privacy Lesson of 9/11: Mass Surveillance is Not the Way Forward
![Surveillance cameras on a street pole.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/09/Regular-Surveillance-400x400.jpg)
Jun 1, 2021
A New Consensus Around Transparency and National Security Surveillance
![Outside of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) located in Washington, DC](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/06/FISC-Header-Image-400x400.jpg)
Apr 2, 2021
A Chinese American Scientist and His Family Are Battling the FBI’s Profiling in Court
![An FBI agent reads through documents.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/04/WEB21-FBI-Agents-Computers-WordPress-1110x740-1-400x400.jpg)
Mar 26, 2021
The Government is Racing to Deploy AI, But at What Cost to Our Freedom?
![Face recognition and personal identification technologies in street surveillance cameras covering people's faces.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/03/Security-Surveillance-Header-Image-400x400.jpg)
Feb 5, 2020
The Government is Using its Foreign Intelligence Spying Powers for Routine Domestic Investigations
![The Department of Justice building in Washington, DC.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/02/web20-DOJsign-blogimage-wordpress-1110x740-400x400.jpg)
Jan 18, 2019
The Justice Department Shouldn’t Be Snooping on Journalists
![Department of Justice](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-departmentofjustice-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Sep 24, 2018
What a European Court Ruling Means for Mass Spying Around the World
![European Court of Human Rights](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web18_europeancourtofhumanrights_1160x768-400x400.jpg)