Domestic Surveillance Program Arguments U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard oral arguments in two cases on the government’s warrantless wiretapping program. The Court will decide whether or not to dismiss the two cases under the “state secrets” privilege, which bars the presentation of evidence in court that could threaten national security. Lower court judges in both cases rejected the government’s attempts to get the cases dismissed.

Hepting v. AT&T was a class action on behalf of a group of AT&T customers who allege that the company intercepted their phone calls and electronic mail, then disclosed the information to the NSA.

The plaintiffs in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. Bush were an Oregon branch of a Saudi charity that has been investigated for alleged terrorist ties. They argue that they have a top-secret document proving they were a direct target of National Security Agency surveillance. close