Congress Tries To Strip Power From Anti-Wiretap Judge

Tag : Power Strip
palegray.net writes "Congress is attempting to strip US District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of his power following his ruling against the government regarding immunity for telecoms in the NSA wiretapping case.Walker was appointed to the bench by President Bush, and hasattempted to enforce existing prohibitions against warrantlesswiretapping. From the Wired article: 'Walker, the chief judge ofthe Northern District of California, affirmed that the ForeignIntelligence Surveillance Act is the exclusive legal method forconducting surveillance inside the United States against suspectedspies and [terrorists]. The Bush Administration argues thatCongress's vote to authorize military force against Al Qaeda andthe president's inherent war time powers were exceptions to theexclusivity provision.' The article makes the observation thatCongress seems to be having difficulties bringing itself to enforcethe laws that it has previously passed regarding wiretapping, andseems more interesting in silencing opposing viewpoints." Update: 07/06 16:15 GMT by SS: As several readers have noted, the vote would only limit JudgeWalker with respect to this particular case. His otherresponsibilities would be unaffected.