US judge refuses to derail domestic spying case

[ProSense]

US judge refuses to derail domestic spying case

Sat Nov 18, 12:09 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A federal judge rejected Friday requests from US government and telecom firm lawyers to immediately freeze domestic spying lawsuits while an appeals court considers whether national security would be threatened in trying them.

In the first case involving the White House's authorization of the top-secret warrantless wiretapping program, San Francisco District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker refused to put on hold the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) suit against telecommunications giant AT&T for its alleged role in the program.

EFF sued AT&T for with helping the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on millions of customers by sharing telephone and e-mail data without obtaining warrants.

The NSA conducted the program as part of "war on terror" attempts to uncover threats against the country.

In July Walker rejected arguments by government lawyers that the suit be tossed out on the basis that it is groundless and that its hearing could threaten national security by revealing how authorities gather intelligence.

The judge ruled the interests of justice outweighed the need to protect "state secrets."

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Gonzales attacks ruling against domestic spying

POSTED: 12:14 p.m. EST, November 18, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales contended Saturday that some critics of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program were defining freedom in a way that presents a "grave threat" to U.S. security.

Gonzales was the second administration official in two days to attack a federal judge's ruling last August that the program was unconstitutional. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday called the decision "an indefensible act of judicial overreaching."

Gonzales, in remarks prepared for delivery at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said that some see the program as on the verge of stifling freedom rather that protecting the country.

"But this view is shortsighted," he said. "Its definition of freedom -- one utterly divorced from civic responsibility -- is superficial and is itself a grave threat to the liberty and security of the American people."

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How long before they start calling judges terrorists?

[Mythsaje]

1. I wonder...

Could a judge slap a contempt citation on a public figure for something like that? Maybe not the AG, perhaps, but someone else with a bigger mouth than brain?

God, I've got an evil mind.

[williesgirl]

2. A big K&R for these 2 judges!