A federal judge in San Francisco is raising questions about the constitutionality of a law designed to dismiss suits against telecommunications companies accused of cooperating with government wiretapping.Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has asked President Obama’s Justice Department to present its views by Wednesday on whether the law gives the attorney general too much power to decide whether a company is immune from lawsuits. Obama supported the measure as a senator when Congress approved it last year.To read this report in the San Francisco Chronicle in full, see:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/23/MNFS1634KK.DTLAlso see:ACLU vs DOJ on the implications of FISA Court ruling
The Justice Department and the ACLU (unsurprisingly) disagree about the significance of a secret FISA Court ruling released last month.
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/02/aclu-vs-doj-on-the-implications-of-fisa-court-ruling.ars
US judge questions law giving telecoms immunity
A federal judge in San Francisco is raising questions about the constitutionality of a law designed to dismiss suits against telecommunications companies accused of cooperating with government wiretapping.