Wasting little time, the Justice Department has appealed today's ruling on the Terrorist Surveillance Program and parties have also agreed to a stay of the injunction:
The Terrorist Surveillance Program is a critical tool that ensures we have in place an early warning system to detect and prevent a terrorist attack. In the ongoing conflict with al- Qaeda and its allies, the president has the primary duty under the Constitution to protect the American people. The Constitution gives the president the full authority necessary to carry out that solemn duty, and we believe the program is lawful and protects civil liberties. Because the Terrorist Surveillance Program is an essential tool for the intelligence community in the war on terror, the Department of Justice has appealed the District Court's order. The parties have also agreed to a stay of the injunction until the District Court can hear the Department's motion for a stay pending appeal.
Earlier today a federal judge ruled the government's Terrorist Surveillance Program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it:
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
Judge Taylor is a Carter appointee. Her decision is one of the most blatantly political opinions I've read in some time. You can read it for yourself here [pdf file].
The decision is also artfully timed, in a political kind of way. It will be hard to get it reversed by November, but reversed it will be.
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