NSA wiretapping monitoring program overuled by Michigan Judge

The ACLJ is fighting the ACLU in many court cases Read More Here

Screw You! Terrorists and those who communicate with them have rights too!

After the program was revealed in December by The New York Times, the NSA admitted it had launched a domestic wiretapping and e-mail monitoring program after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) sued to strike down the Bush administration's domestic spying program and won the first round on August 17, 2006. The ruling alters the course of the administration's war on terror. Council on American Islamic Relations joined the lawsuit on behalf of their staff and membership.

Judge overrules
U.S President

Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, who was appointed by President Carter in 1979, also dismissed the government's request that the suit be thrown out because of the "state secrets privilege," which permits the government to suppress a lawsuit that might lead to the disclosure of military secrets.

Attorneys in the case are Beeson, Jameel Jaffer, Melissa Goodman and Scott Michelman of the national ACLU, and Michael Steinberg and Kary Moss of the ACLU of Michigan. The ACLU legal memorandum is online CLICK HERE

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the Bush administration "couldn't disagree more with this ruling."

"United States intelligence officials have confirmed that the program has helped stop terrorist attacks and saved American lives," he said. "The program is carefully administered and only targets international phone calls coming into or out of the United States where one of the parties on the call is a suspected al-Qaida or affiliated terrorist."

The Justice Department said it is appealing Taylor's ruling to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because the program is "an essential tool for the intelligence community in the War on Terror."

"In the ongoing conflict with al-Qaida and its allies, the president has the primary duty under the Constitution to protect the American people," the department said in a statement. "The Constitution gives the president the full authority necessary to carry out that solemn duty, and we believe the program is lawful and protects civil liberties."

Taylor's ruling won't take immediate effect. The Justice Department said it had reached an agreement with the ACLU to postpone implementing the order until Taylor hears its request for a stay pending appeal. A hearing on the motion was set for Sept. 7, Snow said.

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Liberal Judge hindering the U.S. war on terror. Secret NSA terrorist surveillance program was recently revealed by The New York Times. ACLU and Council on American Islamic Relations brought the case against the U.S. to Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, a Liberal Democrat in Detroit Michigan. She rules for the ACLU and CAIR and against secret operations to locate terrorists. Program is similar to one used by England to stop plane bombing by Islamic Radicals. Challengers in the case could not offer any evidence.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor heard arguments in Detroit Michigan, where there is a large Muslim community, from challengers who include Muslim citizens, and the environmental group Greenpeace, which suspects it has been spied upon but could not offer any evidence.

She also heard arguments from Justice Department attorney Anthony Coppolino, who urged Taylor to throw out the case as none of the plaintiffs had shown that they had suffered injury and therefore they had no legal standing to sue, and that further testimony would compromise the "state secrets" doctrine.