The Daily Background
| NSA shot down
by Arlen Parsa
In case you’ve totally been under a rock, here is the news of the day, via AP:
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
“Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,” Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.
[…]
“By holding that even the president is not above the law, the court has done its duty,” said Ann Beeson, the ACLU’s associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
This is huge of course. It’ll be appealed, and the government will probably win the appeal, but this is still a big deal. Read about the government’s immediate reaction and the right-wingers attempts at bashing the judge who issued the ruling here. More about this story later.
Update: Great video of Jack Cafferty on CNN discussing the new ruling. Absolutely blasts the White House. Hard.
