NSA Wiretaps Unconstitutional; White House Appeals

Update 2: 9.24 pm Pacific
The Bush Administration suffered yet another blow from the courts when a US District Court Judge ruled Thursday that the NSA wiretapping program is unconstitutional. In the 43-page opinion, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor wrote: "It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights." (pdf)

In an afternoon news conference, Attorney General Gonzales pledged an appeal: "We're going to do everything we can do in the courts to allow this program to continue." The government had obtained a court date to review a stay of the order to stop wiretaps; the order remains unenforced until then.

In January, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the NSA, on behalf of "a group of journalists, scholars, attorneys, and national nonprofit organizations (including the ACLU) who frequently communicate by phone and e-mail with people in the Middle East."

President Bush has steadfastedly asserted that he has wartime authority to conduct the wiretaps. However, wiretapping in the United States requires a court order, something the Administration side-stepped.

This is the second Administration setback this summer. In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that military trials set up at Guantanamo Bay violate both US law and the Geneva Conventions.

More from About's Guide to US Government Information.

Also, see:
NSA Wiretaps - A Timeline
Bush Defends By-Passing Courts, Asserts Wiretaps Are Legal
Phone Records, Privacy and Congress
Times Sat on Wiretapping Story for a Year
Court To Bush: Gitmo Trials Illegal

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