DOJ Move Denied in Court of Appeals (Warrentless Wiretapping)

[chill_wind]

Court of Appeals Denies DOJ Attempt to Hide Evidence of Warrantless Wiretapping
By Daphne Eviatar 2/27/09 3:13 PM

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco today rejected the Obama Justice Department’s attempt to continue to conceal evidence of warrantless wiretapping.

As I wrote in my story today, the government filed an emergency appeal last week hoping to halt the release of documents showing that the National Security Agency, under President George W. Bush, had secretly wiretapped the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation — a Saudi charity with an office in Oregon that the government deemed a terrorist organization and shut down. Al-Haramain and its lawyers, who claim they were also wiretapped, need the documents (which they’ve already seen because the government released it accidentally) to proceed with their lawsuit against government officials.

Today, they got a significant step closer.

more: http://washingtonindependent.com/31898/court-of-appeals-denies-doj-attempt-to-hide-evidence-of-warrantless-wiretapping


At the EFF website:

February 27th, 2009
Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Denies Government Appeal in Al-Haramain Warrantless Wiretapping Case
News Update by Kurt Opsahl

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government's appeal of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker's January 5, 2009, decision in Al-Haramain v. Obama (formerly known as Al-Haramain v. Bush - The case title changed automatically after the inauguration). The government had also filed an emergency motion to stay the case pending the appeal.

Circuit Judges Pregerson, Hawkins and McKeown issued a one paragraph order:

We agree with the district court that the January 5, 2009 order is not appropriate for interlocutory appeal. The government’s appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. The government’s motion for a stay is DENIED as moot.

This ruling is good news because it means that the warrantless wiretapping case can proceed.

more: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/ninth-circuit-appeals-court-denies-government-appe


- Ninth Circuit Rules on 'State Secrets' Privilege (Washington Independant)


(...)

The lawyers representing Al-Haramain were surprised to see the Obama administration arguing so vigorously for the same expansive view of executive power that the Bush lawyers had asserted.

“I did not expect this from the Obama justice department,” said Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer representing Al Haramain. “I anticipated that the Obama Department of Justice would take a more reasonable approach to moving forward with litigating this case in a manner that doesn’t jeopardize national security, which I think can be easily done. They’re taking as hard a line as the Bush administration did on state secrets,” he said. “If anything, they’re being more aggressive about it.”


Although the new attorney general has only been in office three weeks, Eisenberg said that the Justice Department lawyers handling the case “have told us quite plainly that the Justice Department’s actions of the past few weeks have been approved at the top.”


more background: http://washingtonindependent.com/31800/does-national-security-trump-the-law

DU threads:

Obama Administration Supports Telco Spy Immunity (Wired)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3758004#top


Obama’s Two “Ifs” on FISA: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (Emptywheel)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=428755&mesg_id=428755