NSA Spy Program So Secret Judge Can't Explain Why It Can't Be Challenged
NSA Spy Program So Secret Judge Can't Explain Why It Can't Be Challenged
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
A federal judge ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a key surveillance case on Tuesday, dismissing a challenge which claimed the government's spying operations were groundless and unconstitutional.
Filed in 2008 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the lawsuit, Jewel v. NSA, aimed to end the agency's unwarranted surveillance of U.S. citizens, which the consumer advocacy group said violated the 4th Amendment.
The lawsuit also implicated AT&T in the operations, alleging that the phone company "routed copies of Internet traffic to a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA." That charge was based off of a 2006 document leak by former AT&T technician and whistleblower Mark Klein, who disclosed a collection program between the company and the NSA that sent AT&T user metadata to the intelligence agency.
US District Judge Jeffrey White on Tuesday denied a partial summary judgment motion to the EFF and granted a cross-motion to the government, dismissing the case without a trial. In his order, White said the plaintiff, Carolyn Jewel, an AT&T customer, was unable to prove she was being targeted for surveillance—and that if she could, "any possible defenses would require impermissible disclosure of state secret information."
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/11/nsa-spy-program-so-secret-judge-cant-explain-why-it-cant-be-challenged
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_White
On July 25, 2002, White was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by Charles A. Legge. White was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 14, 2002, and received commission on November 15, 2002.
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Sorry but that songs been stuck in my head and feels apropros this am in light of this news...
(Rider feeling melancholy...)
