NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional
Judge orders immediate halt to program
Thursday, August 17, 2006; Posted: 12:14 p.m. EDT (16:14 GMT)
DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- 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.
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 taping 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.
Finally someone is showing some common sense.That was an atrocious idea to begin with and something only a would-be dictator would come up with.
Yeah so true but the conservative media will go after the fact that the judge was a Carter nomination. So she'll be called a liberal. Double Standard. Seems all conservatives are like that. They bitch when they aren't in charge but when they do it its 'legal'. (David Emerson)