[Part 1 & Part 2 have been the conventional parts of the Keith case analysis. Now we are going to get into areas that involve less what has happened, and more what is happening and opinion as to how what has happened might have an impact, depending upon the arguments raised to the court. So [...]

[Given the current surveillance state situation in America, the Keith case, formally known as United States v. United States District Court, is one of the most important cases from our recent past. But I don't really believe you can understand or know the law of a case, without really understanding the facts. The Keith case [...]

Given the current surveillance state situation in America, the Keith case, formally known as United States v. United States District Court, is one of the most important cases from our recent past, and has profound implications on our present and future. The Keith case doesn’t have simple facts, but they are fascinating and instructive. So bear with me as we go though them – this is going to take awhile, and will be laid out over a series of four posts.

Now that Earl Blumenauer has exposed the craven indemnification agreement the US government under the Bush/Cheney Administration gave to Halliburton/KBR, he should pursue the same types of agreements secretly given to telcom companies participating in the illegal wiretapping program.

Does the Chinese Google attack impinge on the top secret US Terrorist Surveillance Program? It might.

Judge Jeffrey S. White has entered a new order in the NDCA denying the government’s request for a stay pending appeal in the telco documents FOIA case brought by the EFF . And he did it before the government ever even really asked for a stay!

Wired reports that Vaughn Walker has dismissed EFF’s challenge to retroactive immunity. (h/t scribe) Plus, Wired will probably be reporting on how Anthony Coppolino recovered from his long week of dancing in the al-Haramain suit. So by the end of the day, we should have a better idea of whether we’ll ever hold the government responsible for violating FISA.

I’ll be reading Walker’s order as I drink my pre-flight beer (I’m going

EPIC reports that Bush didn’t keep up with its required reporting on certain kinds of surveillance activities. Sort of makes you wonder what they’re hiding, huh?

Surprise surprise. The warrantless wiretapping program is still illegally wiretapping Americans.

The WaPo has a front page article blaring about Obama’s horrible record on state secrets.

I agree with the article that Obama’s record on state secrets has been worse than disappointing. But I’m really tired of reporting that misses key facts about the case. Here’s the theme of the WaPo article.

The first signs [that Obama is "forsaking" campaign rhetoric about openness] have come just weeks into the new administration, in a