The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived the NSA Dragnet Surveillance Case accusing the federal government of working with the nation’s largest telecommunication companies to illegally funnel Americans’ electronic communications to the National Security Agency without court warrants.
In a separate opinion, the judges tossed the EFF’s lawsuit against the United States’ largest telecoms, including AT&T and upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that grants immunity to telecommunications companies that assist the U.S. government in conducting surveillance of American citizens (pdf).
In 2008, Congress granted telecoms immunity for cooperating with the government’s intelligence-gathering activities.
The district court upheld the law as constitutional, and dismissed the claims against the telecommunications companies.
Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading plaintiff in both cases, said:
“Since the dragnet spying program first came to light, we have been fighting for the chance to have a court determine whether it is legal,” said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. “Today, the Ninth Circuit has given us that chance, and we look forward to proving the program is an unconstitutional and illegal violation of the rights of millions of ordinary Americans.”
The San Francisco-based appeals court reversed a San Francisco federal judge who tossed the case against the government nearly three years ago. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, now retired, said the lawsuit amounted to a “general grievance” from the public, and not an actionable claim.
The Ninth Circuit is by far the largest of the thirteen courts of appeals, with 29 active judgeships. It covers nine Western U.S. states. Appellate Courts review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts.
Several lawsuits filed in the wake of revelations about warrant-less wiretapping alleged that telecom companies provided authorities with direct access to nearly all communications passing through their domestic facilities.
Balancing Internet freedom with security can be a slippery slope.
The NY Times covered the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program, Siobhan Gorman’s stories exposed the NSA’s computer problems, and the Washington Post mapped out Top Secret America.
In Top Secret America, contractors do most of the work.
Former AT&T technician Mark Klein provided documents that include descriptions of the fiber-optic splitters, routers and wiring Klein alleges that AT&T set up in “secret rooms” to monitor traffic across its WorldNet Internet Backbone.
The Baltimore Sun says the NSA spent $1.2 Billion on their Trailblazer datamining initiative, similar to the Total Information Awareness program, with little to show for it. Newsweek reports the core of the TIA [Total Information Awareness] survives with a new codename of Topsail (minus the futures market).
Related DailyWireless strories include; US Government: More Surveillance Power, The Secret Patriot Act, Warrantless Wiretap Immunity?, Secret GPS Tracking, Domestic Spying Bill Approved, NSA Gets Blank Check, NSA on the Hot Seat, Dataveillence, NSA’s Political Pickle, Minority Report Goes Live,
