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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Chamber Urges Court to Dismiss NSA Wiretapping Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today, the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC) urged the Ninth Circuit Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against AT&T challenging the National Security Agency's (NSA) Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) and its alleged call records program.

"Government and businesses have long cooperated to protect the nation's critical infrastructure, 85% of which is in private hands," said Robin Conrad, NCLC senior vice president. "Subjecting American businesses to lawsuits each time anyone disagrees with the government's national security policies threatens to undermine that cooperation, thereby jeopardizing national security."

In Hepting, et al. v. AT&T Corp., plaintiffs contend that AT&T provided the government with access to telephone and the underlying communications records for millions of Americans. Both AT&T and the government contend the well-established state secrets privilege bars litigation regarding these alleged programs. In its brief, NCLC argues that, among other things, this privilege protects businesses from having to defend against allegations of intelligence assistance to the government without access to the supporting classified information the companies would need to use in their defense. 
 
"Unless the court dismisses this case, AT&T will be forced to defend itself with one hand tied behind its back," Conrad said. "The basic principles of due process and separation of powers should preclude that from happening."  

NCLC, the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a membership organization that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies. The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

NCLC 

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