Appeals Court Questions Gov Over Spy Program

A federal appeals court questioned Wednesday the government's move to have a ruling that its warrantless surveillance program overturned since it is now getting warrants, asking why the case should be dismissed when the government said it reserves the right to restart the warrantless program at any time, according to the Adam Liptak of the New York Times. But justices at the Sixth Circuit also questioned whether the ACLU and other plaintiffs actually had any basis for filing the suit because none of them can prove they were targeted.

In a series of sharply worded questions to an administration lawyer defending the program, the judges on Wednesday noted that the administration did not promise to continue working with the secret court in the future.

"You could opt out at any time, couldn't you?" asked Judge Ronald Gilman of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Gregory Garre, a deputy solicitor general, acknowledged the possibility.

The judges pressed Garre's adversary, Ann Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union, just as hard on a different point — whether her clients had suffered injuries direct and concrete enough to give them standing to sue.

Liptak's piece lays out the hearing and issues really clearly and I highly recommend reading the whole thing. But for you completists, you can grab an MP3 of the hearing on the court's website or on this mirror I set up.

Photo: Ryan Junell