It’s too bad about all those cell phones they seized…
It would be a great day to call overseas!
As Great Britain and the EU demand more tools to fight the War on Terror, a Carter appointee on a US Federal Court today sided with the ACLU and nixed the warrantless wiretapping program of overseas calls:
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.
“Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,” Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.
The judge in today’s decision, Anna Diggs Taylor, was born in 1932.
She worked as the Legislative Assistant/Detroit Office Manager to liberal U. S. Rep. Charles C. Diggs, Jr., (D-MI) from 1967-1970- who was her first husband. His district included downtown Detroit and some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. He was the first chairman of the Congressional black Caucus. He also had trouble with the law:
He resigned from Congress in 1980, two years after being convicted of 29 counts of operating a payroll kickback scheme in his office. In 1978, he was stripped of his committee and subcommittee chairmanships. He also was censured by the House.
Anna Diggs Taylor was married to Rep. Charles C. Diggs, Jr.
Anna Diggs Taylor later married S. Martin Taylor. He also was in democratic politics and helped Coleman Young in his 1973 campaign and Jimmy Carter in his 1976 victory. She became a Federal Judge in 1979.
So, in case you are wondering… Our national security was just decided by a liberal judge closely associated (married) to a scandal-plagued Democratic Representative and America’s most liberal and worst president, Jimmy Carter.
How did that just happen?
Jawa Report and Wizbang have more.
The All Spin Zone thinks it will be overturned by the 6th.
Mary Katherine Ham put together a Malkin roundup.
Jeff Goldstein sees it being overturned.
Powerline says Judge Diggs ignored precedent.
Update: Sen. Orrin Hatch could not have been more timely with his remarks that a dem win in November would have the terrorists “waiting for the Democrats here to take control, let things cool off and then strike again.”
There is no disagreement there… especially when we see again the liberals in action in our courts!
Another take: “Protecting America is Unconstitutional”
The New Editor has more.
Update 2: The Detroit Free Press described the judge this way, “Judge Diggs campaigned for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and was “rewarded” in 1979 with a judicial nomination.”
Via Opinion Journal
Jack Lewis says she has a history of ignoring the law.
Update 3: Hugh Hewitt sends the good Carter judge a thank you with a kiss:
I might have to send her a thank you note myself, though not for her logic or her abuse of precedent.
Rather, the judge has triggered another great moment of clarity about the Ned Lamont Democrats (and the Jon Tester Democrats in Montana, the Debbie Stabenow Democrats in Michigan, the Maria Cantwell Democrats in Washington State, the Sherrod Brown Democrats in Ohio etc etc.) Judge Anna Diggs Taylor is a Jimmy Carter appointee, and so she’s even given us a twofer today: Illustrating the vast dangers of liberals running national security, and the lasting impact of liberal presidents on national security.
Carter lost Iran to the Islamist fanatics; engineered the deal that brought North Korea nukes, and now his judicial legacy is trying to blind us to the terrorists.
Don’t run for your life in the fall. Vote for your life. Every vote for a Democrat (except Joe Lieberman) is a vote against victory…..Hugh Hewitt
Jimmy’s living legacy, indeed!
