alternative reader no. 133
US Defends Warrantless Domestic Spying
By Sarah Karush
Associated Press
Reposted by Bulatlat
Detroit
- The government's warrantless domestic spying faced its first courtroom
test Monday, with the Bush administration arguing that the program is well
within the president's authority but that proving it would require
revealing state secrets.
US
District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor heard arguments in a case brought by the
American Civil Liberties Union against the National Security Agency. The
ACLU wants the program halted immediately, arguing that it violates the
rights to free speech and privacy.
The
judge gave no indication of when she might rule.
The ACLU
said the state-secrets argument is irrelevant because the Bush
administration already has publicly revealed enough information about the
program for Taylor to rule.
But
government attorney Anthony J. Coppolino told the judge that the case
cannot be decided based on a "scant public record."
"This
case does not involve easy questions," he said. "It's a case that requires
a robust factual record."
Coppolino alluded several times to a classified court filing, which Taylor
indicated she had not yet reviewed. In that brief, he said, the government
has demonstrated that the program "is narrowly and specifically focused on
al-Qaida."
The
plaintiffs do not have access to the classified brief, and even the judge
would have to make a special request and travel to Washington to read it,
said Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead attorney
for the plaintiffs.
Monday's
hearing was the first time the constitutionality of the eavesdropping was
argued in court. A similar lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York
by the Center for Constitutional Rights, but no hearings have been held
there yet.
The
administration has acknowledged eavesdropping on Americans' international
communications without first seeking court approval. President Bush has
said the eavesdropping is legal because of a congressional resolution
passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that authorized him to use force
in the fight against terrorism.
The
parties in the ACLU lawsuit, who include journalists, scholars and
lawyers, say the program has hampered their ability to do their jobs
because it has made international contacts, such as sources and potential
witnesses, wary of sharing information over the phone.
"We're
not arguing that the administration - the executive office - doesn't have
the power to protect us by spying," said Detroit attorney Noel Saleh, a
plaintiff in the case and president of the Arab Community Center for
Economic and Social Services in Dearborn. "What we're arguing is that they
don't have the power to protect us by violating the Constitution."
Coppolino said that the plaintiffs' beliefs that they are among the likely
targets are insufficient to establish that they have been directly
affected by the program.
"You
don't get standing by saying the president has a program, and I'm
concerned it might cover me," he told the judge.
12 June
2006
Posted by
Bulatlat
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