U.S. judge revives lawsuit over Bush wiretap program

[deminks]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A defunct Islamic charity in Oregon that says it was illegally wiretapped by federal authorities can pursue its lawsuit challenging President Bush's clandestine eavesdropping program, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Monday.

In reviving a suit filed by Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the group had enough publicly available evidence to show that it could reasonably believe it had been wiretapped.

The ruling is "a big win for us," said Jon Eisenberg, an Oakland attorney for the plaintiffs.

(snip)

Al-Haramain, classified by the government as a terrorist organization in September 2004, and two of its attorneys said the records they were inadvertently given by the government that year showed that the group's phones had been tapped.

The organization, which has denied any connection to terrorism, returned the documents when federal officials learned of the error. The group claimed that the wiretapping violated the 1978 U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/05/BAAO1542C1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

[buckrogers1965]

1. Legal amnesia.

OK, the feds say that the information is classified. But they kind of blew the secret when they gave the documents to the defendants.

So it really is not a secret anymore.

Why is the judge letting them hide no longer secret information with a charade like this?

[ixion]

2. good, I hope this opens the flood gates and that the lawsuits pour in...

BushCo needs to face justice for violating the constitution.

[Quiz Master]

3. Very intriguing.

It would be great if a seemingly "small" case like this actually led to something. Then, we might some justice for the worst president in our history.

For those who like to wallow (and who doesn't?)...http://tv1.com/playlists/105