Wiretapping Cases Under Fire

The New York Times has published an article on the Bush administration's attempts to rewrite the U.S. Constittuion and some judges are fighting back. Please note - the NYT requires free registration to read their articles online. Below is a brief clip - the entire article is much more detailed.

Secrecy Is at Issue in Suits Opposing Spy Program

By ADAM LIPTAK

The Bush administration has employed extraordinary secrecy in defending the National Security Agency’s highly classified domestic surveillance program from civil lawsuits. Plaintiffs and judges’ clerks cannot see its secret filings. Judges have to make appointments to review them and are not allowed to keep copies.

Judges have even been instructed to use computers provided by the Justice Department to compose their decisions.

But now the procedures have started to meet resistance. At a private meeting with the lawyers in one of the cases this month, the judges who will hear the first appeal next week expressed uneasiness about the procedures, said a lawyer who attended, Ann Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Lawyers suing the government and some legal scholars say the procedures threaten the separation of powers, the adversary system and the lawyer-client privilege.