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I hope the administration's lawyers just walked into a trap. Ordinarily, when the government asserts its state-secrets privilege (which dates only to the 1950s
by pash 13y ago
I hope the administration's lawyers just walked into a trap.
Ordinarily, when the government asserts its state-secrets privilege (which dates only to the 1950s), a judge privately reviews the evidence to see whether it seems plausible that proceedings would reveal state secrets.
Now that the admistration has asserted its secrets privilege in this case, the appellate court can very appropriately circumscribe the privilege, ruling that it cannot be asserted to prevent a challenge to activities that appear unconstitutional, prima facie, under the private review that is already required.
That would be a great outcome, one that might not only roll back the NSA's surveillance programs, but also reinvigorate our most important check on executive power.
- meddlepal 13y agoI see this a lot in NSA topics about how some new legal challenge might reverse NSA activities... Why does anyone think this will work? The NSA is accountable to the executive. The executive is responsible for enforcing laws but can selectively enforce... Why would it limit it's own power?
- brianpgordon 13y agoChecks and balances. The NSA is funded by Congress. Congress needs the courts in order for their legislation to have any effect.
- atlantic 13y agoIntelligence agencies have a history of attempting to circumvent the limitations imposed by funding. There's a lot of evidence that the CIA has been involved in drug trafficking. In the case of the NSA, it could for example sell some of its intel to the private sector (technical and business information concerning rival companies).
- w_t_payne 13y agoSo what do you think it is in this case? Front running? Or a more esoteric form of market manipulation?
- ganeumann 13y agoBitcoin, obviously.
- tessierashpool 13y agothat's the long game. the KGB basically became the Russian Mafia when the USSR went under. maybe the NSA's thinking ahead too.
- phdp 13y agoNot a lawyer but one reason may be that the activities are in a legal grey area where they have secret interpretations of laws. They work hard to keep cases that involve these interpretations out of the courts because as soon as a judge declares it illegal they must stop. Kind of like asking for forgiveness rather than permission.