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Defunct Islamic charity may get second run at Bush administration for illegal monitoring

By Richard Binder

A federal judge who earlier rejected Bush administration claims that it was exempt from laws governing domestic surveillance was asked Tuesday to strike down an act of Congress that grants retroactive immunity for illegal wiretapping.

In a separate challenge of presidential power over national security affairs, lawyers for the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation asked the same judge in San Francisco to allow them to sue for illegal monitoring by the National Security Agency.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in July that President Bush couldn't rely solely on state secrets privilege to justify warrantless spying.  Federal courts have tended to uphold Bush administration claims to broad wartime powers to protect the nation from terrorism, so Walker's decision offered civil libertarians a new chance to convince the courts that the president abused his powers in bypassing a special court that authorizes domestic spying.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).