Judge Declares Government's Wiretapping Program Illegal; Justice Department Appealing

For personal reference only

A federal judge in Michigan ruled Thursday (August 17) that the Bush administration's controversial warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and must immediately be stopped. the first judge to shoot down the National Security Agency program, and she said in a 43-page ruling that the program violates rights to free speech and privacy.Though the ruling was a blow to the administration's program — which President Bush again defended last week by saying that threats like the recent U.K. plot to blow up planes are "why we have given our officials the tools they need to protect our people" — CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said it won't be the last word on the matter. Toobin said the ruling is unlikely to stop the wiretapping activities anytime soon.The Justice Department is appealing the ruling, which won't take immediate effect so that Taylor can hear the department's request for a stay pending its appeal, according to AP. At a news conference in Washington, D.C., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales reiterated that the program is legal. "We're going to do everything we can do in the courts to allow this program to continue," he said. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said the administration "couldn't disagree more with this ruling."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 have said many of their overseas contacts were likely targets of the program, which involves secretly taping conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries, AP reported. The government has steadfastly refused to divulge any details about the program, which was described to Judge Taylor by the ACLU.The administration had argued that the program was within the president's authority but that proving so by describing how it works would require revealing state secrets. The ACLU cast doubt on the state secrets argument, according to AP, saying the White House had already revealed enough information about the program publicly for Taylor to rule on its constitutionality. — Gil Kaufman