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October 30, 2012

Supreme Court Weighs Surveillance Challenge 
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The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case challenging
government surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case on behalf of
lawyers, journalists and human rights researchers who say the monitoring
of overseas communications violates their constitutional rights. The
U.S. government has fought for dismissal on the grounds that the
plaintiffs cannot prove their communications have been monitored. But
the ACLU argued Monday that such proof is impossible to obtain since spy
targets are considered secret. In a statement, the ACLU's Jameel Jaffer
said he was encouraged by Monday's arguments, saying: "The court seemed
appropriately skeptical of the government's attempts to shield this
sweeping surveillance law from meaningful judicial review."

 

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