rushmc 23 #1 June 4, 2009 Court Dismisses Suits Over Warrantless Wiretaps Thursday, June 4, 2009 9:50 AM SAN FRANCISCO -- A U.S. District Court on Wednesday dismissed lawsuits against telecommunications companies in a warrantless wiretap case, ruling that former President George W. Bush's administration had properly requested the cases closed for national security reasons. Companies including AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc faced dozens of suits accusing them of improper participation in a warrantless wiretap program launched by Bush after the September 11 attacks. In 2008, the Democratic-led Congress retroactively shielded phone companies from such suits, on the basis that immunity was needed to win future wiretap cooperation. Some Democrats and civil liberties advocates countered that companies should be held accountable for participating in a program critics say was illegal. Northern California U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker dismissed the suits against the communications companies, in the consolidated case, called In Re: National Security Agency Telecommunications Records Litigation. He ruled that former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey had certified properly that the cases fell under the immunity standards of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008. The act allows the attorney general, for instance, to effect dismissal by certifying to the court that a case involved an anti-terrorist measure authorized by the U.S. president between September 11, 2001 and January 17, 2007. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, which are coordinating the cases, said they would appeal, arguing the amended act was unconstitutional. The EFF in a separate case is suing the government, alleging the surveillance was illegal. The Department of Justice, AT&T and Verizon were not immediately available for comment. © Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #2 June 4, 2009 The government has grabbed power hand over fist without checks and balances based on the premise of safety ... Quote"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin ... stop being afraid and start being free!"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #3 June 4, 2009 QuoteThe government has grabbed power hand over fist without checks and balances based on the premise of safety ... Quote"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin ... stop being afraid and start being free! And now it is being done on the premise of the economy......."America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
councilman24 37 #4 June 4, 2009 And the suit against the government itself stands. This dismissed the suits against the telecommunications companies themselves, not the suit against the federal government for telling them it was legal.I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
