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State Secrets Defense Rejected In Wiretapping Case
knifeyspooney writes in with an Ars Technica report that a federal judge has issued a strong rebuke to government lawyers attempting to invoke the "state secrets" defense to quash a lawsuit over warrantless wiretapping. This is not the high-profile case the EFF is bringing against the NSA; instead the case is being pursued by an Islamic charity that knows it had been wiretapped. "At times, a note of irritation crept into [Judge] Walker's even, judicial language. At one point, he described the government's argument as 'without merit,' and characterized another as 'circular.' He also seemed impatient with the Justice Department's refusal to provide any classified documents addressing Al Haramain's specific claims for review in chambers. 'It appears... that defendants believe they can prevent the court from taking any action under 1806(f) by simply declining to act,' wrote Walker."
only enemy combatants detained overseas and their affiliates are in GITMO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Padilla_(prisoner) They did try to send an American citizen, not in the military, arrested in the US, to Gitmo. He was held as an "enemy combatant" for 3.5 years before civil liberties groups got him a trial. I'm not saying I'm sad he is in jail (he was later found guilty), and I'm really not a conspiracy theorist, but it wouldn't be hard to believe there was at least one US citizen that they arrested in the US and sent to Gitmo without anyone noticing.
As it is, even with the press aware of this guy's situation, he sat in jail for 3.5 years without being charged with a crime. A US citizen, arrested in the US by the US government. That doesn't creep you out at all?
Yes I see a pattern.
Denial of Democrats. Ye willfully ignore the wiretapping & nonlegal tactics that Clinton, Carter, and LBJ had performed during their administrations. Also Truman and FDR liked to ignore the law. FDR even went so far as to threaten the U.S. Supreme Court since they kept declaring his laws "unconstitutional".
Talk about subversion of the People's Supreme Law! "The Constitution and the Supreme Court be damned." - FDR
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall