Reply #37: From The Right Wing Rocky Mt. News [View All]

[otohara]

Wiretap decision goes over the top

t's unfortunate that the first federal judicial ruling on the Bush administration's "terrorist surveillance" program ended up a political statement, rather than a dispassionate legal analysis of the policy.

That's because the ruling issued Thursday in Detroit by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, which found that warrantless wiretaps are unconstitutional, is likely to be slapped down on appeal. And that's true despite there being good reasons to question the program's legality. Many scholars who agree with her conclusion also think the 43-page decision will not stand.

Taylor's opinion was quickly stayed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, so the surveillance program is still in business until the appeal is heard Sept. 7. And now the program will almost certainly remain in effect until Congress endorses it in legislation, or a more credible legal challenge is posed.

Taylor employs plenty of florid rhetoric in the opinion, comparing President Bush with King George III and at times saying "obviously" and "undisputedly" the wiretap program violates the Constitution. But her arguments show a profound misunderstanding of the Bill of Rights, so it's unlikely to persuade appellate judges. And the main constitutional question remains whether these wiretaps are considered unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_4928086,00.html

When Saturday comes rolling around we in Denver get the Rocky Mt. News vs The Post (I'm a Post subscriber) Both papers suck, but The Rocky sucks more.