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Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismissal Motion

By TChris, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 04:24:13 PM EST
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by TChris

A legal challenge to AT&T's cooperation with the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program survived dismissal today, as U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected the administration's oft-repeated claim that any scrutiny of its domestic spying programs would endanger national security.

"It might appear that none of the subject matter in this litigation could be considered a secret given that the alleged surveillance programs have been so widely reported in the media,'' Walker said.

Walker also wrote that he did not see how allowing the lawsuit to continue could threaten national security.

"The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one,'' Walker said. "But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security.''

In addition to rejecting the government's "state's secrets" defense, Judge Walker concluded that AT&T is not entitled, at this early stage, to dismissal on a variety of technical defenses or because it enjoys "qualified immunity." That defense is usually available only to government employees, and Judge Walker declined to bring AT&T under its umbrella, in part because the allegations in the complaint, if proved, wouldn't support a claim that AT&T acted in accordance with a reasonable understanding of the law. The AP reporter underplays Judge Walker's forceful language by writing that Walker "suggested the case had some merit." Judge Walker wrote (pdf): "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal.''

The lawsuit will move ahead, although the administration will likely try to move it to an appellate court. Or worse. As Last Night in Little Rock warned:

Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced a bill to remove that case and any like it to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review in Washington where it could be heard in secret and only the Justice Department could be heard.

< Conyers v. Bush: Lawsuit over Federal Deficit Reduction Act | S.F. Grand Jury Disbands Without Indicting Barry Bonds >

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    • Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismissal Motion | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#2)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 09:32:11 PM EST
    Good.

    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#3)
    by bad Jim on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 01:16:57 AM EST
    The EFF has a page about it. It's a republic, if we can keep it. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Nur der verdient sich Freiheit wie das Leben, der täglich sie erobern muss. Here we are at the beginning of the twenty-first century, still struggling to maintain the freedoms we thought we'd won at the end of the eighteenth.

    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#4)
    by peacrevol on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 08:10:46 AM EST
    why is at&t still on the hook though. i mean, what company in their right mind is going to stand up to the nsa when they're told to do something? i know i wouldnt.

    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 11:22:19 AM EST
    what company in their right mind is going to stand up to the nsa when they're told to do something? Quest did:
    A fourth telecommunications firm, Quest Communications, refused the NSA's request for its customers phone records based on the advice of legal counsel, the former CEO said in a statement released on Friday
    and both BellSouth and Verizon denied that they cooperated with the NSA, but I link, you decide :)

    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#6)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 11:35:34 AM EST
    Pea..A company that values their customers and respects their privacy. The NSA don't pay my phone bill. When I pay Verizon every month, I expect them to live up to the privacy agreement that appears on my monthly statement.

    Re: Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismi (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 03:50:53 PM EST
    a company that believes in the constitution and laws.

    Eavesdropping Suit Against AT&T Survives Dismissal Motion | 6 comments (6 topical)