ACLU: Oral Arguments Wednesday in FISA Amendments Act Lawsuit

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/20-0

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2009
9:39 AM


CONTACT: ACLU
ACLU Media, [phone] or [e-mail]


Oral Arguments Wednesday in FISA Amendments Act Lawsuit
ACLU in Court to Challenge Unconstitutional Spying Law

NEW YORK - July 20 - The American Civil Liberties Union will be in court Wednesday for oral arguments in its landmark challenge to the unconstitutional FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which gives the government virtually unchecked power to intercept Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls. The ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop the government from spying under the FAA less than an hour after the Act was signed into law by President Bush on July 10, 2008. Recent news reports have indicated that the National Security Agency has exceeded the already overbroad limits granted to it under the FAA.

The case was filed on behalf of a broad coalition of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose ability to perform their work - which relies on confidential communications - is greatly compromised by the law.

Plaintiffs in the case are The Nation and contributing journalists Naomi Klein and Chris Hedges; defense attorneys Dan Arshack, David Nevin, Scott McKay and Sylvia Royce; and Amnesty International USA, Global Rights, Global Fund for Women, Human Rights Watch, PEN American Center, Service Employees International Union, Washington Office on Latin America and the International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association.

WHAT: Oral arguments in the ACLU's challenge to the unconstitutional FISA Amendments Act

WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:00 a.m. EDT

WHERE: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse, Courtroom 12B 500 Pearl St. New York, NY 10007

WHO: Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, will argue on behalf of the plaintiffs before Judge John G. Koeltl.

More information about the case, including the ACLU's complaint, a video discussing the legal challenge and plaintiff statements in support of the lawsuit, is available online at: www.aclu.org/faa
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The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

[ananda]

1. Good for ACLU.

FISA is such a blight on this country.