Intellectual Property Law

Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Denies Government Appeal in Al-Haramain Warrantless Wiretapping Case

By kurt

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government's appeal of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker's January 5, 2009, decision in Al-Haramain v. Obama (formerly known as Al-Haramain v. Bush - The case title changed automatically after the inauguration). The government had also filed an emergency motion to stay the case pending the appeal.

Circuit Judges Pregerson, Hawkins and McKeown issued a one paragraph order:

We agree with the district court that the January 5, 2009 order is not appropriate for interlocutory appeal. The government?s appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. The government?s motion for a stay is DENIED as moot.

This ruling is good news because it means that the warrantless wiretapping case can proceed.

On January 5, Chief Judge Walker had denied the government's third motion to dismiss the Al-Haramain litigation and set up a process to allow the Al Haramain plaintiffs to prosecute the case while protecting classified information. See our previous Deeplink blog post for more information about the case and the decision.

Full post as published by Electronic Freedom Foundation - Deep Links on February 27, 2009 (boomark / email).