San Francisco judge weighs issues
in surveillance lawsuits

By Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News Service

February 10, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A federal judge who is presiding over more than 30 domestic surveillance lawsuits heard two hours of legal arguments by attorneys on two key procedural issues Friday but deferred ruling on them.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker did not say when he will decide on the rulings, in lawsuits filed by citizens and groups in courts around the country against telecommunications companies, including AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., BellSouth Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp. They accuse the corporations of aiding the National Security Agency in alleged illegal warrantless surveillance of Americans' phone calls and e-mails.

The cases were consolidated in Walker's court for the purpose of judicial efficiency.

The first issue debated is the U.S. government's request for a stay of proceedings in all cases until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the government's appeal of Walker's refusal last July to dismiss the first case to be filed.

That lawsuit, known as the Hepting case, was filed against AT&T by four Californians represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The U.S. Justice Department claims that the lawsuits should be dismissed because state secrets could be revealed.

The other issue that was argued is whether Walker's decision refusing to dismiss the Hepting case should be applied to the other cases.

The plaintiffs want Walker to allow their cases to go forward soon for hearings on the merits of their arguments because they believe they might have to wait a long time for the 9th Circuit to make a ruling.

However, U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Carl Nichols said Walker should wait until the appellate court rules.

He said, "There are important legal issues before the 9th Circuit that could apply to all the cases and I believe we're on the cusp of a 9th Circuit ruling."

Walker jokingly responded, "You can live a long time on the cusp." At another point, Walker asked Spring attorney John Kester why the cases shouldn't go forward immediately.

"Why not tee it up now?" Walker asked.

Kester replied, "This isn't a golf game, your honor."

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