Judge Refuses to Stay Order Shutting Down NSA Program

Federal judge Anna Diggs Taylor, who last month ruled that the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program was illegal and must immediately be shut down, refused to grant the government to continue the program while it asks a higher court to review her decision, according to Bloomberg.

Instead, the government has one week to ask the Sixth Circuit appeals court to issue the stay.

Taylor said that to prevent possible harm to the public she wouldn't order the surveillance stopped immediately, instead giving the government a week to get a federal appeals court order allowing continued surveillance. The government filed that request following the hearing. An immediate stop to the program would harm U.S. security, a government lawyer told the judge.

"The terrorism surveillance program was authorized to close a gap in intelligence,'' Justice Department attorney Anthony J. Coppolino told Taylor. "A chilling effect on a small number of communicators speaking with al-Qaeda or suspected al-Qaeda does not outweigh the harm'' to the public if the program stops, he said.

It is highly likely that the Sixth Circuit will reverse this decision, allowing the warrantless eavesdropping to continue until it rules on Digg Taylor's August decision.

Photo: Rich Anderson