Judge Tosses Telecom Spy Suits

[kpete]

Source: Wired

Judge Tosses Telecom Spy Suits


SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed lawsuits targeting the nation’s telecommunication companies for their participation in President George W. Bush’s once-secret electronic eavesdropping program.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker upheld summer legislation protecting the companies from the lawsuits. The legislation, which then-Sen. Barack Obama voted for, also granted the government the authority to monitor American’s telecommunications without warrants if the subject was communicating with somebody overseas suspected of terrorism.

Bush acknowledged the so-called Terror Surveillance Program in December 2005, and claimed as chief executive, his war powers gave him the authority to spy without court authorization.

Walker’s decision (.pdf), if it survives, ends more than three years of litigation accusing the nation’s carriers of funneling Americans’ electronic communications to the Bush administration without warrants in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The ruling also means that the public may never know how the Bush White House coaxed the telecoms to participate in the program without court warrants, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation alleged in a lawsuit lodged in federal court here three years ago.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/telecom_suit/

---

more discussion here:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/06/03/vaughn-walker-dismisses-challenge-to-retroactive-immunity/

From page 12, this gives some hope on Al Haramain and other suits against the government:

The court agrees with the United States and the
telecommunications company defendants on this point: plaintiffs
retain a means of redressing the harms alleged in their complaints
by proceeding against governmental actors and entities who are,
after all, the primary actors in the alleged wiretapping activities.
Indeed, the same plaintiffs who brought the Hepting v AT&T lawsuit
(C 06-0672 VRW) are now actively prosecuting those claims in a
separate suit filed in September 2008 against government defendants
before the undersigned judge. Jewell v United States, C 08-4373
VRW, filed September 18, 2008. Jewell thus joins several other
cases in this MDL which seek relief only against government
defendants. Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc v Bush, No C
07-0109; Center for Constitutional Rights v Bush, No C 07-1115;
Guzzi v Bush, No C 06-6225; Shubert v Bush, No C 07-0693.


http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/06/walkerdismissal.pdf

[KansDem]

1. So the telecoms can spy on us without warrants...

...and the government can spy on the telecoms without warrants.

Just what are "warrants" used for?

[EFerrari]

2. A handy excuse as in, the FBI didn't move against Tiller's killer

because they had n warrant.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Big round of applause for our new Pres, old Pres. & Congress.......

:sarcasm:

[PSPS]

4. "in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks"

Walker’s decision (.pdf), if it survives, ends more than three years of litigation accusing the nation’s carriers of funneling Americans’ electronic communications to the Bush administration without warrants in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

In fact, bush's illegal wiretapping started in Februaly 2001, shortly after he was installed. This was reported in Bloomberg, Wired and elsewhere.

Of course, the corporate media now just glosses over this "detail."

[leveymg]

12. That's correct - no immunity for telcos and NSA contractors for pre-09/11 warrantless spying

Although, it's going to be difficult to prove if the DOJ continues to invoke "state secrets".

[santamargarita]

5. It will take a long time to fully erase the stain left by that...

Goddamn Bush Crime Family!

[Downwinder]

6. Now are they going to get rid of Internet spams, scams, and intrusions?

They have the tools to track everything back to the source. And they can eliminate all those warranty callers. I tell them I have a Chevy and the government will take care of it.

[dickthegrouch]

7. This deserves some Contempt of Court:

Vaughn Walker you are an idiot and not worthy of the title of judge, far less the position of one.

[ShortnFiery]

8. Not good.

[chill_wind]

9. Two different lawsuits-- one of them lives to return in September.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/06/03/the-al-haramain-order-from-walker/

[Downwinder]

10. I didn't read far enough. What does this do for an appeal? n/t

[chill_wind]

11. EFF says it will appeal it's case (against the telecoms). The Oregon Charity case

goes back to hearing by Judge Walker in September.

Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said one “silver lining” was that Judge Walker had kept intact related claims against the government over the wiretapping program, as well as a suit by an Oregon charity that says it has evidence it was a target of wiretapping without warrants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04nsa.html?_r=1&hp

Emptywheel:

PROCEEDINGS:
Order to Show Cause Hearing.

RESULTS:
The Court heard argument from counsel.
Plaintiff shall file a motion for summary judgment.
Hearing is set for 9/1/09 at 10:00 am.

see http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/06/03/the-al-haramain-order-from-walker/

al Haramain being the plaintiffs.

[Vidar]

13. Another victory for the corporations & the police state.

[cal04]

14. Judge Revisits Warrantless Eavesdropping

Source: Washington Post

Justice Department, Attorneys for Defunct Charity Must Further Explain Positions

A federal judge yesterday declined to penalize Justice Department lawyers for flouting his orders in a sensitive electronic surveillance case where the Obama administration sided with its predecessors to the alarm of civil liberties groups.

But U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker did not give the government what it wanted, either. The San Francisco-based judge batted away fresh Justice Department attempts to appeal his rulings, which have been critical of the Obama approach to protecting state secrets.

Instead, the judge directed attorneys for the administration and for a now-defunct Oregon charity to prepare court filings this summer about the legality of the government's warrantless eavesdropping program and the scope of the executive branch's authority.

The case involves the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, an Oregon charity whose lawyers apparently were overheard on phone conversations under a highly classified National Security Agency surveillance program. The dispute is the deepest and most advanced case to plumb the Bush era's electronic eavesdropping initiative.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060303590.html?wprss=rss_nation

[Mermaid7]

15. Whoop whoop whoop!!! What is that?

By Jove, it looks like... the first crocus appearing above the snow, after a God Damn, very long and cold winter.

Is there a chance for spring again???

[earcandle]

16. ewwwwwwweeeeeee, eeeeewwwwweeeee,baby!

Let me take your Momma on a Sea Cruise!  

Thank you Judge Vaughn for letting this go forward.
America continues to exist, thanks to Americans. 

Our President salutes you and all like you!

[midnight]

17. Good!