Free Press joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and major news organizations in calling on the Justice Department to return the phone records it secretly obtained from more than 100 journalists.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the 52 signers, which include the American Society of News Editors, the New York Times and the Washington Post, note that the Justice Department’s actions violate its own rules.

“In the 30 years since the Department issued guidelines governing its subpoena practice as it relates to phone records from journalists,” the letter reads, “none of us can remember an instance where such an overreaching dragnet for newsgathering materials was deployed by the Department, particularly without notice to the affected reporters or an opportunity to seek judicial review.”

The letter asks Holder to explain the reasoning behind the Justice Department’s behavior — and to detail what it will do to “mitigate the damage it has caused.”