JD Journal » American Civil Liberties Union

Federal Appeals Court Rules Telecommunications Companies Have Legal Immunity in Connection with NSA Program

rebneely — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:00:17 +0000

In recent days, a federal appeals court ruled that a 2008 law granting telecommunications companies legal immunity for helping the National Security Agency with an email and telephone eavesdropping program is constitutional.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court ruling that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is indeed constitutional.

The appeal was involving a case that consolidated 33 different lawsuits filed against various telecom companies, including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on behalf of these companies’ customers.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyers including the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union. They accused the companies of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with NSA on intelligence gathering.

The case is rooted in the new surveillance rules passed by Congress in 2009; these included protection from legal liability for telecommunications companies that allegedly helped the U.S. spy on Americans without warrants.

Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who argued the case before the panel was quoted as saying in the December 29th foxnews.com article, “Court OKs Immunity for Telecoms in Wiretap Case”: “I’m very disappointed. I think the court reaches to try to put lipstick on a pig here. I think what Congress did was an abdication of its duty to protect people from illegal surveillance.”

In its ruling, the court made note of comments put forth by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence involving the legal immunity’s role in helping the government gather intelligence.

Judge M. Margaret McKeown was quoted as saying: “It emphasized that electronic intelligence gathering depends in great part on cooperation from private companies … and that if litigation were allowed to proceed against persons allegedly assisting in such activities, the private sector might be unwilling to cooperate with lawful government requests in the future.”

However, in a separate opinion, a three-judge panel of the court pointed to two other lawsuits that challenged the warrantless surveillance program. Two groups of telecom customers sued the NSA for violating their privacy by collecting Internet data from AT&T from telecom companies in the surveillance program authorized by President George W. Bush.

Government lawyers have made attempts to stop such cases, on the grounds that defending the program in court would jeopardize national security. The suits will be sent back to U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

America’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is an Act of Congress, which put in place procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of “foreign intelligence information” between “foreign powers” and “agents of foreign powers”. This may also include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of being engaged in espionage and violating U.S. law on territory under United States control.

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S. government communications and information systems, which involves cryptanalysis and cryptography.

Pagan NC Mother Cries Foul When Son Comes Home From School with Bible

rebneely — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:39:36 +0000

At least it’s not pornography.

But that’s not what a Buncombe County mother had to say when her son came home from his fifth-grade class at North Windy Ridge intermediate school in North Carolina with a Bible.

American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation, the state’s largest civil liberties group, says the school went too far.

The mother of the fifth grader, Ginger Strivelli, says her son got the bible from North Windy Ridge school in Weaverville in recent days from a box left by the Gideons International group. Strivelli, who is a pagan, doesn’t feel the school should give any religious materials to students.

She was quoted as saying in the huffingtonpost.com article: “It’s totally inappropriate they think they can get away with this. It’s absolutely unbelievable and their attitude is ridiculous.”

However, school officials are of the mind they did nothing wrong. Principal Jackie Byerly said she got approval from the superintendent after the Gideons asked to leave Bibles at the school.

Students were not required to take Bibles, county schools spokeswoman Jan Blunt said. They were told by teachers that the books were available in a box in the main office.

In reference to the Gideons, Blunt was quoted as saying: “They don’t talk with students. They’re not allowed to make a presentation. They quite literally drop off a box and leave them there. They are not handed out at all.”

Per Katy Parker, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation, that would be fine at a high school.

The ACLU of North Carolina is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the guarantees of individual liberty found in the Constitution and laws of the United States and the state of North Carolina. Hot issues the organization concentrates on include racial justice, free speech, the death penalty, human rights, religious liberty, reproductive rights, student and youth rights and voting rights.

The Legal Program has traditionally been the ACLU’s most successful avenue for protecting and enhancing the constitutional rights and civil liberties of North Carolinians. The Legal Program responds to every request it receives and for matters that do not involve civil liberties. The ACLU of NC Legal Foundation works diligently to defend civil liberties such as privacy rights, religious freedom, free speech, and equal protection under the law. On many occasions the ACLU of NC stands alone, often against the prevailing sentiment of public opinion, in its vigilant defense of these fundamental freedoms.

Gideons International, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, as an early American parachurch organization dedicated to Christian evangelism. It began distributing free Bibles, the work it is chiefly known for, in 1908, when the first Bibles were placed in the rooms of the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana.

Obama Nominates 3 to District Court Bench

Erik Even — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:25:49 +0000

In more Obamanomination news, the President has nominated three California lawyers to the United States District Court bench.

Edward Chen has been nominated for the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Chen currently serves as a US Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California. He was a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Northern California Chapter. His law degree is from the UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law.

Dolly Gee has been nominated to the US District Court for the Central District of California. She is a managing partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Schwartz Steinsapir, where she practices labor and employment litigation. She received her JD from the UCLA School of Law.

Richard Seeborg has been nominated to the US District Court for the Northern District of California. He is currently a US Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, and previously worked at Morrison & Foerester, in both Palo Alto and San Francisco, where he was an equity partner. Seeborg also served as an Assistant US Attorney in San Jose, California. His JD is from the Columbia University School of Law.

The 94 United States district courts are the general trial courts of the US federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty.

ACLU: Indiana Law Examiners Can’t Ask About Mental Illness

Erik Even — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:54:57 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has launched a class action lawsuit against the Indiana Board of Law Examiners, alleging that investigating the mental health history of law license applicants violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ACLU is representing an anonymous woman who seeks an injunction prohibiting the BLE from asking certain questions about mental fitness. She suffers from an anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress.

Similar cases have resulted in the modification or removal of such questions in Maine, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Founded in 1920, the New York-based American Civil Liberties Union consists of two separate non-profit organizations: the ACLU Foundation, which focuses on litigation and communication efforts; and the American Civil Liberties Union, which focuses on legislative lobbying. The ACLU’s stated mission is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Supreme Court To Decide On Mojave Cross

Erik Even — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:32:54 +0000

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether or not a cross honoring fallen soldiers in the Mojave National Preserve is a violation of the 1st Amendment. It will be the first time that the court will hear a case regarding “an establishment of religion” with John Roberts as the Chief Justice.

The current cross is eight feet tall, though a smaller wooden cross was erected by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1934 and was maintained by the National Park Service as a war memorial.

The American Civil Liberties Union objected to the cross and filed a suit on behalf of Frank Buono, a former Park Service employee. The suit noted that the government declined to build a Buddhist shrine near the cross.

The case appeared before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled in favor of the ACLU, declaring the cross an “impermissible government endorsement of religion.”

The government has questioned Buono’s right to challenge the cross. Mr. Buono lives in Oregon and, according to government lawyers, suffers no obvious harm because of the cross’ existence.