Wednesday Hearing in Government Fight to Silence Warrantless Wiretapping Case

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Monday, July 13, 2009

Contact:

Rebecca Jeschke
  Media Relations Director
  Electronic Frontier Foundation
  press@eff.org
  +1 415 436-9333 x125

Wednesday Hearing in Government Fight to Silence
Warrantless Wiretapping Case

EFF Faces Off Against Obama Administration in Jewel v. NSA

San Francisco - On Wednesday, July 15, at 10:30 a.m., a
federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments in the
government's motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA, a case from
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) challenging
dragnet government surveillance of millions of ordinary
Americans.

The Justice Department moved to dismiss the case in April,
arguing that litigation over the warrantless wiretapping
program would require the government to disclose privileged
"state secrets" -- essentially repeating the arguments made
by the Bush Administration in its attempts to block
lawsuits over the illegal spying.  The Justice Department
also claims that the U.S. possesses "sovereign immunity"
and cannot be held accountable for illegal surveillance
under any federal statutes.

In Wednesday's hearing, EFF will argue that the lawsuit
cannot be dismissed based on the government's blanket
secrecy assertion, as made clear in previous court
decisions concerning NSA spying and the CIA's special
rendition program, and that the government is not immune
against suit for violating federal wiretapping statutes.

For more information about attending the hearing, please
contact press@eff.org.

WHAT:
Jewel v. NSA hearing on the government's motion to dismiss

WHEN:
Wednesday
July 15, 2009
10:30 a.m.

WHERE:
450 Golden Gate Ave., Courtroom 6
San Francisco, CA 94102

For more on Jewel v NSA:
http://www.eff.org/cases/jewel

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/07/13

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


    -end-

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