wire tapping illegal

u.s. district judge anna diggs taylor in detroit is the first to strike down the national security agency's wire tapping program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution. obviously, the u.s. government will appeal this, but let this be the first, in many future "fuck you" salutes to the u.s. government and their consistent illegal bastardization of international and domestic law.

here's the article from the globe and mail:

U.S. judge orders halt to domestic spying
SARAH KARUSH
Associated Press

DETROIT — A U.S. 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 as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

“Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,” Judge Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.

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 wiretapping conversations between people in the United States and people in other countries.

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

The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration had already publicly revealed enough information about the program for Judge Taylor to rule.
Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the group was “thrilled” with the ruling.

“By holding that even the president is not above the law, the court's done its duty,” she said.
The NSA had no immediate comment on the ruling.

While siding with the ACLU on the wiretapping issue, Judge Taylor dismissed a separate claim by the group over NSA's data-mining of phone records.

She said that not enough had been publicly revealed about that program to support the claim and that further litigation would jeopardize state secrets.

Ms. Beeson said the data-mining was “a minor part of our lawsuit.”