ACLU Suit Over the NSA Spying

Saw this mentioned earlier on the web, but didn't realize who some of the plaintiffs were. Caught it discussed on Fox a bit later and learned a little more on law suites.

Two civil liberties groups in the US have taken legal action to block President George W Bush's domestic spying programme. The groups want an immediate halt to the "illegal and unconstitutional" eavesdropping on US citizens. The federal lawsuits were filed in New York and Detroit by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

and

Other plaintiffs include Greenpeace, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and UK journalist Christopher Hitchens.

Now the plaintiffs appear to be important according to Napolitano the suit should be dismissed immediately due to the "injury in-fact" test. I looked that one up. Was a bit difficult to find until I finally found the case that set the precedence. At least I believe it's the case.

We do not question that this type of harm may amount to an "injury in fact" sufficient to lay the basis for standing under 10 of the APA. Aesthetic and environmental well-being, like economic well-being, are important ingredients of the quality of life in our society, and the fact that particular environmental interests are shared by the many rather than the few does not make them less deserving of legal protection through the judicial process. But the "injury in fact" test requires more than an injury to a cognizable interest. It requires that the party seeking review be himself among the injured.

Yeah. My understanding is that the plaintiff must prove that they actually were injured and not just put forward that they think they've been injured.

Interesting. The ACLU suit can be found here.

I'm wondering why no law makers have made any request that the NSA stop their spying. I keep wondering if there was no outcry at the time of notification, or afterward, if the law makers and judges didn't really have an issue with the project. Or they were sufficiently convinced by the information provided that they had the power to carry on the spying.

On the NSA Spying topic, the NYTimes has an article here on the FBI anonymous sources saying that the results provided to them from the program were essentially a waste of time. The really interesting statement:

"It isn't at all surprising to me that people not accustomed to doing this would say, 'Boy, this is an awful lot of work to get a tiny bit of information,' " said Adm. Bobby R. Inman, a former N.S.A. director. "But the rejoinder to that is, Have you got anything better?"

The anonymous sources still bother me a great deal. Not knowing the motive of the sources makes the statements a bit questionable. I will say that the article does make you wonder if the resources are being most effectively used. I don't have any idea, but it would be interesting to have a GAO report on the effectiveness of the actions.

I really hope we get some actual information as to what is or has been occurring.