Temporary Halt to Terrorist Surveillance Program

The ACLU has won a temporary delay in the government's terrorist surveillance program:

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly taping conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.

The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.

Isn't it a wonderful country when one judge - a Carter appointee at that - (out of 300 million citizens) can put a stop to a program which is helping to put terrorist plots out of business? You know the ACLU "judge-shopped" this case until they found someone likely to side with them. Why else would this case have been heard in Detroit? Now you see once again why electing Republican presidents and senators is very important.

The Free-Press had some information about the judge and her probably ruling back in August (h/t Michelle Malkin):

Although Taylor is a liberal with Democratic roots and defended civil-rights workers in the South in the 1960s, people who know her say she will follow the law -- not her politics -- in deciding the case...
But even if Taylor harpoons the spying program, experts said, the decision likely would be overturned by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Given the composition of the 6th Circuit and its previous rulings in related areas, it seems more likely to favor national security over civil liberties if that issue is squarely presented," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia. "And that's what this case is all about."

I doubt this result will stand. I fully expect that on appeal the program will be found constitutional. The Ned Lamont Dems are jumping with joy over this decision, which just confirms once again why these people cannot be trusted with the security of the country.

Don't forget Justice Robert Jackson's famous quote: "The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact."