Article

2023-03-08 Government Corruption

SCOTUS rules domestic surveillance programs too sensitive to be challenged in court

[Reason] Officials shield government abuses from litigation by claiming “national security.” The Supreme Court declined to weigh in.

Abusive government behavior has again been found to be too sensitive to national security to face legal challenges in the court system. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court's dismissal of the Wikimedia Foundation's lawsuit against a National Security Agency surveillance program revealed a decade ago by Edward Snowden. With "state secrets privilege" barring litigation, that leaves upcoming congressional debates over renewal of the law authorizing the program as the only recourse for civil liberties advocates.

"The U.S. Supreme Court today denied the Wikimedia Foundation's petition for review of its legal challenge to the National Security Agency's (NSA) 'Upstream' surveillance program," Wikimedia announced February 21. "Under this program, the NSA systematically searches the contents of internet traffic entering and leaving the United States, including Americans' private emails, messages, and web communications. The Supreme Court's denial leaves in place a divided ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which dismissed Wikimedia's case based on the government's assertion of the 'state secrets privilege.'"

"This decision is a blow to the rule of law," commented Alex Abdo, of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which worked with Wikimedia and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "The government has now succeeded in insulating from public judicial review one of the most sweeping surveillance programs ever enacted. If the courts are unwilling to hear Wikimedia's challenge, then Congress must step in to protect Americans' privacy by reining in the NSA's mass surveillance of the internet."

The "Upstream" surveillance program at issue collects "communications 'to, from, or about'" a foreign target designated under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according the NSA. In the clearer language of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "upstream surveillance involves collecting communications as they travel over the Internet backbone, and downstream surveillance (formerly PRISM) involves collection of communications from companies like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo."

Posted by Slenter Panda4300 2023-03-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 The American taxpayer has no right to know the legality of a program that he or she is paying for ?

Posted by Besoeker 2023-03-08 02:17|| 2023-03-08 02:17|| Front Page Top

#2 More for everyone.

Pervert Mormon cult leader Samuel Bateman 'used jailhouse phone to have explicit conversations with children' and called 13-year-old his 'sexy darling' - while being held on child trafficking charges

Posted by Skidmark 2023-03-08 06:34|| 2023-03-08 06:34|| Front Page Top

#3 #1 You're behind the times, 'right to know'? What leads you to imagine there is a right to ask?

Posted by Cesare 2023-03-08 07:07|| 2023-03-08 07:07|| Front Page Top

#4 Bokhari: Gigi Sohn’s Withdrawal from FCC Nomination Reveals Limits of Censorship Consensus

Posted by Skidmark 2023-03-08 08:34|| 2023-03-08 08:34|| Front Page Top

#5 Seems to reward the government for making illegal actions classified.

Posted by Super Hose 2023-03-08 12:28|| 2023-03-08 12:28|| Front Page Top

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