Quote:

r3x29yz4a said:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/17/national/a090059D26.DTL


A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.

The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.

The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration already had publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor to rule.




It Should be noted, however, that this is a case of first impression. In other words, the decision will be appealed and the appellate court may rule differently.

The article as written doesn't really do a good job of describing the issues, some of which have been laid out on this thread over the past few months. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future.