Key Senators Raise Doubts on Eavesdropping Immunity

KEY SENATORS RAISE DOUBTS ON EAVESDROPPING IMMUNITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Lichtblau]
The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that they had serious concerns about a plan for legal immunity to phone carriers that participated in the National Security Agency domestic eavesdropping program after the Sept. 11 attacks. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the panel, said at a hearing that the immunity proposal amounted to “an after the fact free pass” for utilities that might have violated customers’ privacy rights. The ranking Republican on the committee, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said people now suing the carriers “ought to have their day in court.” Their opposition to the immunity proposal, while not unexpected, complicates the Bush administration’s hopes for passage of a bill to insulate the carriers from legal liability for participating in the eavesdropping.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01nsa.html?ref=todayspaper
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* Roadblock for Telecom Immunity
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103103126.html
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* Wiretap Battle Heats Up
Vermont regulators allowed an investigation to proceed into how telecommunications companies cooperate with government surveillance, opening a small but potentially significant window into the federal government's post-9/11 spying efforts. The White House has been urging Congress to grant telecom companies legal immunity, arguing that allowing lawsuits or state investigations to proceed would pose a national security risk by revealing details of government surveillance methods. The investigation by Vermont's Public Service Board now becomes part of the political debate in Washington over granting retroactive immunity to companies, including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which face lawsuits for allegedly aiding surveillance by the National Security Agency without court warrants. The immunity issue is also feeding doubts among some Democrats about President Bush's pick to head the Justice Department, which writes the legal opinions underpinning surveillance activities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119387854439978505.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
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