Court Revives Lawsuit Over Government Surveillance

[jimmy olsen]

Excellent news. Hopefully they'll be as successful when the case comes to court.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/us/22fisa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Court Revives Lawsuit Over Government Surveillance
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: March 21, 2011

WASHINGTON — Civil libertarians opposed to the government's expanded wiretapping powers were bolstered Monday after an appellate court reinstated a lawsuit challenging an eavesdropping law passed by Congress in 2008.
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      Editorial: The Right to Sue Over Wiretapping (March 23, 2011)

In one of the few remaining lawsuits on the issue, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups charged that the expanded surveillance powers granted by Congress were unconstitutional and illegal. A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan had thrown out the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs failed to show they were actually spied upon and therefore did not have legal standing to sue. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit disagreed, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.

It found that the groups challenging the wiretapping law, including lawyers and journalists communicating with people overseas who might fall under terrorism investigations, had a reasonable fear that their international calls and e-mail would be monitored by the government.

While the appeals court did not rule on the merits of the case, the groups bringing the case said they were glad to be able to bring the legal substance of their challenge to court.

"I have always thought that we had a very strong argument," said Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U. "The new law allows the government to engage in dragnet surveillance of Americans' communication, and it makes the Fourth Amendment altogether irrelevant."

The law, known as the FISA Amendments Act, followed a furious debate over the legality of President George W. Bush's secret eavesdropping program. In amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Congress gave covert agencies greater leeway to monitor international communications without direct court oversight.

As a presidential candidate at the time, Senator Barack Obama opposed the broadening of executive power, but he angered some liberal supporters by reversing his position and voting for the measure.

The Justice Department, which could seek a rehearing in the Second Circuit to prevent the case from returning to the district court, had no comment Monday.