Judge Finally Rejects State Secrets Privilege

Where did it happen? Well, San Francisco, so, not the most conservative city in the U.S., but regardless of where it was, it's the first time I've read such a thing occur since 9/11. Any first in that regard is a good sign. In fact, as it states in this article, this was actually the first of approximately thirty such cases which challenged the electronic surveillance program that wasn't dismissed because of the state secrets privilege.

The judge refused to dismiss a privacy-rights group's lawsuit against AT&T for allegedly cooperating with the Bush administration's spying on citizens. The judge also rejected the Bush administration's claim that any such information which is leaked from the case would be a threat to national security.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker added, "Dismissing the at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

He also said, "AT&T and the Bush administration have already disclosed, for all practical purposes, that the company 'assists the government in monitoring communication content' as part of federal anti-terrorism efforts. Allowing private parties to claim that their rights were violated by the company's role in the program would not expose state secrets or assist terrorists."

Judge Walker, who ironically enough, was named to the federal bench by Dubya's father, George H.W. Bush in 1989, also said, "AT&T's assistance in national security surveillance is hardly the kind of 'secret' that... the state secrets privilege (was) intended to protect or that a potential terrorist would fail to anticipate."

Link:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/20/MNGDRK2M0F6.DTL