[Infowarrior] - 7-Day Stay Granted in Surveillance Case

[Richard Forno]

7-Day Stay Granted in Surveillance Case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/28/AR2006092800
928_pf.html
By SARAH KARUSH
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 28, 2006; 2:13 PM

DETROIT -- The federal judge who struck down President Bush's warrantless
surveillance program turned aside a government request for an indefinite
stay Thursday but said the government could have a week to appeal.

U.S. Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled on Aug. 17 that the program, which
targets communications between people in this country and people overseas
when a link to terrorism is suspected, violates the rights to free speech
and privacy, as well as the separation of powers in the Constitution. The
White House says the surveillance is a key tool in the fight against
terrorism that already has helped prevent attacks.

The Justice Department asked Taylor to allow the program to continue until
the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a final ruling on the legal
issues, which could take months.

Taylor denied that request, but gave the government a seven-day reprieve
while it seeks a stay from the appeals court during the time the appeal is
pending.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the suit in Detroit on behalf of
journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult
for them to do their jobs because they believe many of their overseas
contacts are likely targets.

Many of them said they had been forced to take expensive and time-consuming
overseas trips because their contacts were no longer willing to speak openly
on the phone or because it would be unethical to ask them to do so when the
confidentiality of those conversations could not be guaranteed.
© 2006 The Associated Press