Watchdog Goes To Court Over Government Spying
A high-tech watchdog group will head to court Tuesday to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law aimed at granting immunity to telecommunications companies participating in illegal domestic surveillance. At the hearing before U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, the Electronic Frontier Foundation will argue that amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act improperly take away Americans' claims arising out of the First and Fourth Amendments; violates the government's separation of powers; and robs telecom customers of their rights without due process of law.
Signed by President Bush earlier this year, the law allows for the dismissal of the lawsuits over the telecoms' participation in the warrantless surveillance program if the government secretly certifies to the court that the surveillance did not occur, was legal, or was authorized by the president. Attorney General Michael Mukasey filed that classified certification with the court in September and is demanding that the cases be dismissed, according to EFF.
The watchdog group is representing the plaintiffs in Hepting v. AT&T, a class action suit brought on behalf of millions of AT&T customers whose communications and records were given to the National Security Agency. EFF was appointed co-coordinating counsel along with the American Civil Liberties Union for all 46 outstanding lawsuits concerning the government's warrantless wiretapping activities. Also Tuesday, the court will hear arguments on the future of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush, a case alleging that the government illegally spied on the charity and its lawyers.
On Monday, Walker issued some questions about the constitutionality of the immunity provisions that he wants the parties to address. His questions can be found here.
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