NYT A-1 Exposes Sham in Tactic Shift on Domestic Surveillance

[Rose Siding]

On Wednesday, the administration announced that an unnamed judge on the secret court, in a nonadversarial proceeding that apparently cannot be appealed, had issued orders that apparently both granted surveillance requests and set out some ground rules for how such requests would be handled.

The details remained sketchy yesterday, but critics of the administration said they suspected that one goal of the new arrangements was to derail lawsuits challenging the program in conventional federal courts.

“It’s another clear example,” said Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, “of the government playing a shell game to avoid accountability and judicial scrutiny.”

In other cases, too, the timing of litigation decisions by the government has been suggestive........

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/washington/19legal.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1169182800&en=297d94511a042b21&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

Watching Gonzales explain this yesterday, my first thought was that this is just what they'd done to avoid judicial review of charges against Padilla. In this article, front page and above the fold, the NYT makes that comparison as well as others. There is still one case on the issue of warrantless spying likely to survive this trickery- an Oregon case in which the plaintiffs say they have classified documentary proof that the government spied on them illegally. They're seeking damages.

Also, here's a bit from yesterday's barbecue that didn't get much play. I call it The Confession-

Mr. Gonzales, speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday said that the recent orders involved a creative reading of the 1978 law, often called FISA. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, administration lawyers determined that the program could not be reconciled with the law but later decided to “push the envelope.”

http://www.newseum.org.nyud.net:8090/media/dfp/lg/NY_NYT.jpg

[originalpckelly]

1. I know, I suspected as much...

because they had to give the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court information which would trigger a review of the program. I highly doubt the court's opinion is anything other than "use fucking FISA and FISC you slimy bastards!"

[H2O Man]

2. Nominated.

This is an extremely important story. I know it comes as no surprise to us, but it is good to see it documented like this. Thank you for posting this!

[Oilwellian]

3. What's the payoff for these slimy criminals?

I want to know how they benefited from "pushing the envelope." You know it doesn't have anything to do with national security and everything to do with personal gain.

[formercia]

12. Pushing the envelope=

It's legal as long as you don't get caught and have an amoral attorney to run interference until the statute of limitations kicks-in.

This is old-time gangster tactics.

[mod mom]

4. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH- the world is spinning out of control with both military tension

and global warming. It's time to march into the White House and arrest these criminal. We DO have a constitution and NO ONE is above the law! We are either a land of LAWS or a land of kings-which is it! The world can't wait!

[librechik]

5. K&R&N

history in the making here--Watch for a Pentagon Papers style blowup (I hope)

[Marie26]

6. So..

Bush got one crony judge on FISC to give a blanket approval of the whole "terrorist surveillance program." Is that basically what happened?

[originalpckelly]

8. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges don't have the authority...

to approve of a program warrant. Arlen Specter even tried to pass a bill giving the ability to do so, but that didn't pass, so any decision by the court on this matter other than "use a fucking warrant for each individual person asshole" would be unconstitutional and illegal.

[Marie26]

10. Right

This is just BS, a publicity stunt. They won't release any specifics about exactly what kind of warrant the judge issued, & won't even let Leahy see the judge's decision. It seems like the decision was just a CYA attempt to authorize any past, present and future wiretaps - not a real individual warrant at all. Then, they try to mislead the public into thinking that they're now complying w/the FISA law when they aren't. I'm so tired of the games these idiots play w/our laws & our Constitution.

[Mandate My Ass]

7. Pushing the envelope? A slimy euphemism for breaking the law

Ugh. This program doesn't need oversight, it needs to be stopped -- immediately! Will someone please put these criminals behind bars.

[originalpckelly]

9. I think they mean pushing the envelope...

in the sense of nullifying issues before one court by getting a decision from a secret court.

[Clinton_Co_Regulator]

11. kick

:kick: