Federal judge orders halt to NSA spy program

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO NSA SPY PROGRAM
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com 8/17, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
The warrantless Internet and telephone surveillance program authorized by the Bush administration violates the U.S. Constitution and must cease immediately, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The landmark decision makes U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's once-secret program. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed suit against the government, claiming the program "ran roughshod" over the constitutional rights of millions of Americans and ran afoul of federal wiretapping law. In a sweeping victory for the ACLU and its clients, which included organizations representing criminal defense lawyers, journalists, Islamic-Americans and academics, Taylor appeared to knock down several major legal arguments that the Bush administration has used to defend the program since it was revealed by The New York Times last December. "Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," the judge wrote in her 43-page opinion. The decision immediately drew an appeal from the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued in a statement that "the Terrorist Surveillance Program is an essential tool for the intelligence community in the War on Terror." The Bush administration also requested that the judge's opinion be put on hold until the appeals process is complete. The government appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
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