Top court won't review Bush domestic spying case

TOP COURT WON'T REVIEW BUSH DOMESTIC SPYING CASE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: James Vicini]
The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a legal challenge to the warrantless domestic spying program President George W. Bush created after the Sept. 11 attacks. The American Civil Liberties Union had asked the justices to hear the case after a lower court ruled the ACLU and other groups and individuals that sued the government had no legal right to do so because they could not prove they had been affected by the program. The civil liberties group also asked the nation's highest court to make clear that Bush does not have the power under the U.S. Constitution to engage in intelligence surveillance within the United States that Congress has expressly prohibited. "It's very disturbing that the president's actions will not be reviewed by the Supreme Court," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "Allowing the executive branch to police itself flies in the face of the constitutional system of checks and balances."
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1925683320080219

* ACLU Rips Supreme Court Decision on Warrantless Surveillance
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6533489.html?rssid=193

* Supreme Court Declines to Hear Wiretap Case
The Supreme Court today turned aside a legal challenge to the Administration's warrantless wiretaps, declining to review a lower court decision dismissing the case because the names of those being spied on are secret. "The Court's decision allows the government to avoid accountability for its actions, making it less likely that we'll ever get a legal ruling on whether the government's warrantless wiretapping program broke the law," said Gregory T. Nojeim, director of CDT's Project on Freedom, Security & Technology. "It's all the more critical now that Congress tighten the law to make sure judicial orders are required for surveillance in the future. February 19, 2008
ACLU v NSA, July 06, 2007: http://www.cdt.org/security/nsa/20080218_ACLUvNSA.pdf

* ACLU's Suit Against Wiretapping Is Declined
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR200802...

* Supreme Court dismisses challenge to Bush's wiretapping policy
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-scotus20feb20,1,...

* Our civil liberties lose this round
[Commentary] It's hard enough dealing with individual businesses or government agencies. It's a whole other thing when the public and private sectors team up against consumers. I don't think I'm reaching when I say that most consumers would prefer that a court order or two be obtained before telecom companies hand over their personal communications to the government.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-lazarus20feb20,1,5695...