US Federal Government Caught as a Law-Breaker

The following is heartwarming in that it shows that the separation of power and an independent judiciary still survive in the US. But my cynical side says that Obama's administration will ignore the court order and continue the wire-tapping and will appeal and fight it through the courts again and again until everybody alive today dies of old age. Governments don't like to give up power. They are tenacious. Here's the key bit from a NY Times article:

Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretapping Program Illegal

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and JAMES RISEN

Published: March 31, 2010

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration’s effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush.

...

The ruling delivered a blow to the Bush administration’s claims that its surveillance program, which Mr. Bush secretly authorized shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was lawful. Under the program, the National Security Agency monitored Americans’ international e-mail messages and phone calls without court approval, even though the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, required warrants.

...

But since Mr. Obama took office, the N.S.A. has sometimes violated the limits imposed on spying on Americans by the new FISA law. The administration has acknowledged the lapses but said they had been corrected.

Abuse of power by governments is a slippery slope. Once rights are usurped they are never given back without a fight. The future of liberty in the US looks bleak to me.