U.S. DEFENDS WARRANTLESS DOMESTIC SPYING
Sarah
Karush, AP
Published: Wednesday, June
21, 2006
The government's warrantless
domestic spying faced its first courtroom test Monday, with the Bush administration arguing that the program is well within
the president's authority but that proving it would require revealing state secrets.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs
Taylor heard arguments in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the National Security Agency. The ACLU
wants the program halted immediately, arguing that it violates the rights to free speech and privacy.
The judge gave
no indication of when she might rule.
The ACLU said the state-secrets argument is irrelevant because the Bush administration
already has publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor
to rule.
But government attorney Anthony J. Coppolino told the judge that the case cannot be decided based on a "scant
public record."
"This case does not involve easy questions," he said. "It's a case that requires a robust factual
record."
Coppolino alluded several times to a classified court filing, which Taylor
indicated she had not yet reviewed. In that brief, he said, the government has demonstrated that the program "is narrowly
and specifically focused on al-Qaida."
The plaintiffs do not have access to the classified brief, and even the judge
would have to make a special request and travel to Washington
to read it, said Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
Monday's
hearing was the first time the constitutionality of the eavesdropping was argued in court. A similar lawsuit was filed in
federal court in New York by the Center for Constitutional
Rights, but no hearings have been held there yet.
The administration has acknowledged eavesdropping on Americans'
international communications without first seeking court approval. President Bush has said the eavesdropping is legal because
of a congressional resolution passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that authorized him to use force in the fight against
terrorism.
The parties in the ACLU lawsuit, who include journalists, scholars and lawyers, say the program has hampered
their ability to do their jobs because it has made international contacts, such as sources and potential witnesses, wary of
sharing information over the phone.
"We're not arguing that the administration — the executive office —
doesn't have the power to protect us by spying," said Detroit attorney Noel Saleh, a plaintiff
in the case and president of the Arab Community Center
for Economic and Social Services in Dearborn. "What we're
arguing is that they don't have the power to protect us by violating the Constitution."
Coppolino said that the plaintiffs'
beliefs that they are among the likely targets are insufficient to establish that they have been directly affected by the
program.
"You don't get standing by saying the president has a program, and I'm concerned it might cover me," he told
the judge.
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