Thursday, August 17, 2006

NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Ruled Unconstitutional

From Balkinization:
The first federal court to pass on the legality of the NSA domestic surveillance program, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the Eastern District of Michigan, enjoined it today in ACLU v. NSA. The opinion is here and the order is here. The court rejected the state secrets privilege with respect to most of the plaintiffs' claims because it held that the information necessary to pass on the legality of the NSA program was already made public by the government and the government had made its justifications for the program public. The court also stated that it had reviewed secret material provided by the government in camera and concluded that none of it was necessary to pass on the legality of the claim. The governments suggestions to the contrary, it contended, were "disingenuous."

More commentary from Glenn Greenwald and Anonymous Liberal.

UPDATE: More commentary from Lawyers, Guns and Money and SCOTUSblog.

UPDATE UPDATE: More from Derek Bambauer at Info/Law.
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2 comments:

  1. Betsy McKenzie5:16 PM

    I am so appalled at the news lately that I am going to have to check out of news reading and hide out in la-la land. I am glad the judge in this case hung tough. But note that it's just a Distric Court. We have to keep our fingers crossed for appeals and cases in other jurisdictions. HIDE! Did you see the announcement about Kit Bond's "National Security Act"? This bill introduced in the Senate allows the executive branch (read W)to prosecute anybody who releases any information classified as "secret" or "top secret" REGARDLESS of whether there is any proof that there was any damage to national security. That would mean any whistle blowers would be crushed regardless of how much in the wrong the executive branch might be.

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  2. Anonymous9:34 AM

    Yes, and more comment here:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/opinion/23althouse.html?ex=1313985600&en=a1275476a0b0b0ea&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

    http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_08_20-2006_08_26.shtml#1156285508

    http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_08_20-2006_08_26.shtml#1156190208

    http://author.nationalreview.com/latest/?q=MjE5MQ==

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