State Secrets Defense Rejected In Wiretapping Case 269
knifeyspooney writes in with an Ars Technica report that a federal judge has issued a strong rebuke to government lawyers attempting to invoke the "state secrets" defense to quash a lawsuit over warrantless wiretapping. This is not the high-profile case the EFF is bringing against the NSA; instead the case is being pursued by an Islamic charity that knows it had been wiretapped. "At times, a note of irritation crept into [Judge] Walker's even, judicial language. At one point, he described the government's argument as 'without merit,' and characterized another as 'circular.' He also seemed impatient with the Justice Department's refusal to provide any classified documents addressing Al Haramain's specific claims for review in chambers. 'It appears... that defendants believe they can prevent the court from taking any action under 1806(f) by simply declining to act,' wrote Walker."
Remember folks... (Score:5, Interesting)
Remember all you folks who argued for greater presidential powers: Every power you gave Bush is a power Obama now has. And ditto for you Obama fans who will be arguing the same in the next few years for your guy. Eventually there will be someone you don't like in office. There's a very good reason for limiting the power of government: malchiks and nitwits frequently find their way into office.
Re:Remember folks... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Well? (Score:5, Interesting)
Has even one political dissident been sent to GITMO?
How should we know? The DoD has never released an official complete list of names of those who are and who have been detained in GITMO, let alone a list of what they were detained for.
Is it just me? (Score:2, Interesting)
Is it just me, or does
"women are disenfranchised, then kicked out of their jobs, abortion is banned, homosexuals are stoned, writers are jailed, directors shot, dancers raped"
sound like a conservative wishlist? I swear that Jerry Falwell was on my TV asking for these same things. Hmm..
Re:Remember folks... (Score:3, Interesting)
Remember all you folks who argued for greater presidential powers: Every power you gave Bush is a power Obama now has. And ditto for you Obama fans who will be arguing the same in the next few years for your guy. Eventually there will be someone you don't like in office.
Well I'm an Obama fan because his own and his chosen DoJ team's stances have been strongly at odds with the Bush DoJ's "creative" interpretation of the Constitution. So even though the guy I like is in office, I'll be hoping for and arguing for a reduction in executive power, thank you very much.
Oh and I'm not expecting any miracles on that account, but I am confident that the worst abuses of Bush's executive power will not be continued.
Re:whos next (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ok, let me get this straight... (Score:5, Interesting)
P.S.
Proposed Amendment (the XXVIII)
Any Person, regardless of rank or position, found by a State Supreme Court, State Legislature, or the Supreme Court of the United States to be committing acts in violation of this Constitution shall be charged with treason, with appropriate penalties as determined by the Congress.
*
* example: illegal wiretaps or searches without a judge's warrant
* all of the persons who committed that act would be charged
Why this proposed amendment? Because I'm tired of seeing government officials violate the Constitution and "get off" without any kind of consequences. There needs to be a deterrent, with corresponding fear of punishment, otherwise these bozos will just continue breaking Constitutional law again-and-again as if it didn't exist.
Re:Well? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:really? (Score:1, Interesting)
So it turns out that logical or semantic absolutism is possible, just likely to cause paradoxes.. That's hardly news though, religions have been 'studying' this effect for millennia.
Re:Well? (Score:2, Interesting)
ALSO: "A government large enough to provide everything you need, is also a government large enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Democrats
The party certainly has strayed far from its founder's original ideals (small government, individual independence, minimal taxation).