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• Wednesday, June 3, 2009 06:25 PM

  OT: Al-Haramain warrantless wiretap suit

  More waiting...

  Justice Department, Attorneys for Defunct Charity Must Further Explain Positions

  A federal judge yesterday [today - the article is ppst-dated June 4] declined to penalize Justice Department lawyers for flouting his orders in a sensitive electronic surveillance case where the Obama administration sided with its predecessors to the alarm of civil liberties groups.

  But U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker did not give the government what it wanted, either. The San Francisco-based judge batted away fresh Justice Department attempts to appeal his rulings, which have been critical of the Obama approach to protecting state secrets.

  Instead, the judge directed attorneys for the administration and for a now-defunct Oregon charity to prepare court filings this summer about the legality of the government's warrantless eavesdropping program and the scope of the executive branch's authority....

  Jon Eisenberg, who represents the defunct charity's lawyers, said the Justice Department is now in a position of spelling out its view of executive power, which could conflict with Obama's rhetoric on the campaign trail.

  Eisenberg said the judge put off for a later date the charity's request that the government pay its legal fees.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060303590.html

  Judge Walker's Minute Order:

  The Court heard argument from counsel.

  Plaintiff shall file a motion for summary judgment.

  Hearing is set for 9/1/09 at 10:00 am.

  http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/alharamainminuteorder6309.pdf

  —EJ Read EJ's other letters
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