Can a federal grand jury be lawfully used solely for purposes unrelated to any criminal investigation? The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philadelphia) wants to know the answer to that question. To get that answer, CAIR-Philadelphia (which I serve as legal director) has already engaged in significant litigation on this issue at the district court level, and we have filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In particular, CAIR-Philadelphia wants to know whether federal grand juries, which typically operate solely within the context of criminal law, can be used to assist the FBI with general "intelligence gathering" national security investigations in which there is no suspected violation of federal criminal law.<