TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit

Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit

blog.wired.com (blog@wired.com)
Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:31:17 -0500

Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit

The federal government intends to invoke the rarely used "State
Secrets Privilege" -- the legal equivalent of a nuclear bomb -- in the
Electronic Frontier Foundation's class action lawsuit against AT&T
that alleges the telecom collaborated with the government's secret
spying on American citizens.

The State Secrets Privilege is a from vestige English common law that
lets the executive branch step into a civil lawsuit and have it
dismissed if the case might reveal information that puts national
security at risk.

Today's assertion severely darkens the prospects of the EFF's lawsuit,
which the organization had hoped would shine light on the extent of
the Bush Administration's admitted warrantless spying on Americans.

Read the complete report at http://wired.blog.com/27Bstroke6

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