[privacy] U.S. Government Asserts It Is Above the Law

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Via EFF Deep Links.

[snip]

Late last night, the Government filed its reply brief, providing a last
round of written briefing in advance of next week's hearing in our case
against AT&T for colloborating with the Government's surveillance
program. Finally the Administration has come out and flatly said what
it has hinted at throughout its arguments: that the Program is above
the law. The Government wrote that:

"...the court—even if it were to find unlawfulness upon in camera, ex
parte review—could not then proceed to adjudicate the very question of
awarding damages because to do so would confirm Plaintiffs’ allegations."

Essentially the Government is saying that, even if the Judiciary found
the wholesale surveillance program was illegal after reviewing secret
evidence in chambers, the Court nevertheless would be powerless to
proceed, because the Executive has asserted that the Program, which has
been widely reported in every major news outlet, is nevertheless still
such a secret that the Judiciary (a co-equal branch under the
Constitution) cannot acknowledge its existence by ruling against it. In
short, the Government asserts that AT&T and the Executive can break the
laws crafted by Congress, and there is nothing the Judiciary can do
about it.

[snip]

Link:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004741.php

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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