Government’s right to eavesdrop on Americans challenged as lawsuit against Patriot Act re-instated
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, March 21st 2011, 5:02 PM
A lawsuit challenging the government’s right to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants under the Patriot Act was re-instated by an appeals court Monday.
Libertarians cheered the decision, which will allow Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups to continue questioning the government’s ability to listen in on phone calls and to monitor emails.
An earlier ruling by District Judge John Koeltl dismissed the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs didn’t show they would be the subject of surveillance.
The American Civil Liberties Union and others argued they should be allowed to sue because they feared that “their communications will be monitored, and thus force them to undertake costly and burdensome measures to protect the confidentiality of international communication necessary to carrying out their jobs.”
The Second Circuit Appeals court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding they have “a reasonable fear of injury.”
The three-judge panel’s 63-page decision does not comment on the merits of the lawsuit.
“The government’s surveillance practices should not be immune from judicial review, and this decision ensures that they won’t be,” ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said.
“The law we’ve challenged permits the government to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international communications, and it has none of the safeguards that the Constitution requires.
“Now that the appeals court has recognized that our clients have the right to challenge the law, we look forward to pressing that challenge in the trial court.”