domestic spying

US Judge Rejects Lawsuits in Wiretapping Cases

SAN FRANCISCO - A US federal judge dismissed dozens of lawsuits against telecom companies that participated in a wiretapping program without court authorization during the presidency of George W. Bush.

San Francisco-based US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the companies had immunity from liability under the FISA Amendments Act (FISAAA), which the US Congress adopted in 2008.

Posted in domestic spying, Equality/Justice

Jane Harman: Angry, Partisan, Civil Liberties Extremist

Blue Dog Rep. Jane Harman -- once the most vigorous Democratic cheerleader of Bush's NSA warrantless eavesdropping program -- is rip-roarin' angry today. Apparently, her private conversations were eavesdropped on by the U.S.

Posted in domestic spying, nsa

The NYT's Predictable Revelation: New FISA Law Enabled Massive Abuses

In The New York Times last night, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau -- the reporters who won the Pulitzer Prize for informing the nation in 2005 that the NSA was illegally spying on Americans on the orders of George Bush, a revelation that produced no consequences other than the 2008 Democratic Congress' legalizing most of those activities and retroactively protecting the wrongdoers -- passed on leaked revelations of brand new NSA domestic spying abuses, ones enabled by the 2008 FISA law.

Posted in domestic spying, fisa

Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh Describes 'Executive Assassination Ring'

At a "Great Conversations" event at the University of Minnesota last night, legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an "executive assassination ring."

Hersh spoke with great confidence about these findings from his current reporting, which he hasn't written about yet.

Posted in cia, domestic spying, war crimes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2009
12:35 PM

CONTACT: ACLU

Linda Paris, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

ACLU Presents Arguments Today for Congressional Select Committee to Reform US Surveillance Policies

Panel Discussion on Next Steps for Domestic Surveillance Highlights Consensus Among Privacy Rights Advocates

WASHINGTON - March 10 - The American Civil Liberties Union presented its reasons for Congress to establish a Select Committee to review U.S.

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The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

ACLU Links:

Posted in civil liberties, domestic spying

Obama's Bush League Decision

Last July and September, I recounted in Salon how, in the case of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. v. Bush, where I am one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, government attorneys for the Bush administration had gone to extreme and even bizarre lengths to prevent the federal courts from determining the legality of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.

Posted in after bush, domestic spying, obama, states secrets

Obama's Efforts to Block a Judicial Ruling on Bush's Illegal Eavesdropping

The Obama DOJ's embrace of Bush's state secrets privilege in the Jeppesen (torture/rendition) case generated substantial outrage, and rightly so. But it's now safe to say that far worse is the Obama DOJ's conduct in the Al-Haramain case -- the only remaining case against the Government with any real chance of resulting in a judicial ruling on the legality of Bush's NSA warrantless eavesdropping program. Here's the first paragraph from the Wired report on Friday's appellate ruling

Posted in after bush, domestic spying, Equality/Justice

In Support of Protest, Free Speech

In 2004 I ran for vice president of the United States representing the Green Party, an alternative political party. If Major League Baseball had only two teams, fewer people would care about that game, too.

I spoke at rallies, marched in parades, hand-delivered political documents to state houses across the nation: I even got to spend four days at Parris Island with the U.S. Marine Corps.

If you want to know why Marines are proud, spend a few days with them while they train.

Posted in domestic spying, free speech

Illegal Wire-Tapping Suit Now in Obama's Court

President-elect Barack Obama dismayed civil liberties groups last summer when he voted to authorize President Bush's clandestine wiretapping program after publicly denouncing it.

Now, thanks to a ruling by a San Francisco federal judge, Obama must take a stand on whether the Bush administration violated Americans' rights when it intercepted their phone calls and e-mails without seeking a court's permission.

Posted in domestic spying, Equality/Justice, obama

Obama Signals His Reluctance to Look Into Bush Policies

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama signaled in an interview broadcast Sunday that he was unlikely to authorize a broad inquiry into Bush administration programs like domestic eavesdropping or the treatment of terrorism suspects.

But Mr. Obama also said prosecutions would proceed if the Justice Department found evidence that laws had been broken.

Posted in after bush, domestic spying, obama, torture