Judge Rejects Obama Admin's 'State Secret' Defense For NSA Spying Lawsuit

[TeamJordan23]

Judge Skeptical Of State Secrets Privilege For NSA/Charity Case

The Obama administration suffered a bit of a legal setback this afternoon: a federal judge in California rejected the administration's assertion of the state secrets privilege in the civil suit brought by an Islamic charity that was allegedly subjected to illegal NSA surveillance. The order, in Al-Haramain v. Bush, requires the government to come up with a way to safeguard the classified information it plans to present in the NSA's defense by May 8. Judge Vaughn Walker noted that the government has elsewhere made provisions for the discussion of Top Secret/SCI information. It so happens that the plaintiffs attorneys have been cleared to that level. Walker crafted his order narrowly to prevent the government from appealing it immediately to the Ninth Circuit. On May 8, it will be interesting to see whether the administration presents a plan for safeguarding classified info -- or whether it re-asserts the state secrets privilege.

Order: http://politics.theatlantic.com/Order.April%252017.pdf

News Source Link: http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/court_rejects_states_secrets_privilege_for_nsacharity_case.php

[Xipe Totec]

1. Well played, Mr President, well played

Follow protocol, establish continuity of goverment by supporting the position of the preceeding administration.

Then let the courts shread the arguments to smithereens.

:applause:

[originalpckelly]

10. Yes, that's the ticket. He's against this, so he's telling his lawyers...

to make an argument they don't believe in. After all, this President has said he wants to totally do away with secret government. In no way does he intend to keep things from us.

[biopowertoday]

19. LOL

[Dogmudgeon]

18. I can't believe so few DUers haven't seen this from a mile away

Obama gets to rewrite 8 years of criminal laws and uses the Judicial branch as his pen.

The cost? Having a bunch of non-activist progressives mad at him for a few weeks at a time.

Meanwhile, judge Bybee is on the 9th Circuit; absent the Republican effort to continue packing the bench, he will be treated like a rogue who gets walled up in a little-used part of the castle.

--d!

[tomp]

21. the game is far from over (the verdict on obama not in yet). nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Brilliant move.

The best way to unravel policy put forth from a Republican president, is to try to do the samething as a Democratic president.

[Xipe Totec]

26. A variation of malicious compliance

The best way to get rid of a stupid rule, its to follow it to the letter.

[annabanana]

2. If it goes to the Ninth Circuit... Who does it run into?

Bybee. . .Can I assume he will recuse?

[glitch]

6. Probably - not that recusals mean so much any more.

What with the remaining judges channeling the recuser and all (Owens/Minor)
:screwy:

[chill_wind]

7. Emptywheel bloggers' analysis

On this one "Forget Bybee".


http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/17/breaking-news-judge-vaughn-walker-keeps-al-haramain-alive/#more-3955

[Supersedeas]

8. Judge Bybee -- well placed by Bush and his biggest supporter, Harry Reid

[Inuca]

22. Are you sure Reid is his biggest supporter?

WOW!

[Patsy Stone]

3. Excellent!

K&R

[Why Syzygy]

4. kick

[chill_wind]

5. Whoo hooo!!! Judge Walker rocks! He rules! The rule of law lives!

K & R.

:applause:

[FrenchieCat]

9. I stated a few days ago, the arguments used by the new DOJ in this case

were outlandish, unprecedented and ridiculous for a reason.

[Beetwasher]

15. Yup, Somehow I Doubt Obama Is Upset By This Ruling

n/t

[chill_wind]

17. I think you're thinking of Jewell v NSA? And the argument of sovereign immunity

newly introduced in that one?

This one is Bush DeadEnders just doing what they've been doing for two years.
By January, Judge Walker had denied the govt's third motion to dismiss. Seems he's not been real easily bullshitted by Bush career DOJs' arguments for two years now.

What's especially interesting about this one is it seems the DeadEnders may have submitted some "inaccuracies" to the courts way back under Bush and were scrambling on how to "correct" the record some weeks ago. Hard to speculate how much actual oversight there was on this one by Holder among all else he was visited with back in February, barely confirmed and not even half-staffed yet, but it might be pleasant to think the strategy, if there was one, was to just get out of their way of letting them possibly hang themselves in Judge Walker's court. Emptywheel legal types have kept a great detailed running analysis of this and the couple related cases for months.

What the DeadEnders did:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/03/01/some-clues-to-what-inaccurate-information-bush-provided-in-al-haramain/

[Jefferson23]

11. Thank you Judge.

[Danger Mouse]

12. Good.

[stillcool]

13. Nice to see good news..

coming out of our courtrooms.

[Beetwasher]

14. Good! And Now That A Court Has Slapped It Down

There is precedence.

That's why I say these things need to work their way through the courts.

[Frank Booth]

16. This doesn't mean anyone other than the parties and their lawyers will ever see

the information. In fact, it probably means nobody else will ever see it, because court-ordered protective orders generally require that the information not be disclosed to third parties.

[mmonk]

20. Sometimes, judges have their moments

(Constitutional remembrance). Very good.

[chill_wind]

23. And the Honorable Judge Vaughn Walker has had about 2 years' worth on this one

already, sounds like. He's held onto this latest ruling on the Bush/Obama DOJ DeadEnders' last motion since the end of February.

A very deliberate sounding man.....

http://www.eff.org/cases/al-haramain

[mmonk]

24. Yes, Walton is pretty reliable in knowing the job and the law.