American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon
Top Cases
Current Cases...Archived Cases... |
NSA SPYING UPDATEPUC Denies ACLU Request to Move Forward on Verizon Case More than 30 civil actions all similar to the Oregon request for information regarding phone records that may have been illegally turned over to the government had been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Because of that, ACLU of Oregon v. Verizon Northwest Inc. has been held in abeyance “until such time as the 9th Circuit provides clear direction as to appropriate Commission action,” the PUC said in a Dec. 11, 2006, order. The ACLU of Oregon believes that many factors now provide that clear direction, and it’s time to move forward on this case:
Despite our arguments, the case remains in a holding pattern. Additionally, the PUC denied our specific request that Verizon be ordered not to destroy any records pertinent to the case, stating that Oregon law already requires Verizon to preserve such records. “Oregonians deserve to know if Verizon broke the law and gave their private, personal calling records to the National Security Agency,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. “The ‘state secrets’ defense should not apply in this case; Verizon and the U.S. government have shown they are more than willing to talk about their program when it serves their own interests. We’re asking them to be as forthcoming in telling us whether they allowed the NSA to illegally invade the privacy of Oregon telephone customers.” The ACLU of Oregon has joined more than 20 other ACLU affiliates in seeking to find out whether telecommunications companies bowed to NSA demands and provided private calling records to the government. ACLU cooperating attorneys on this case are Keith Dubanevich and Mark Friedman of Garvey Schubert Barer. ACLU of Oregon Urges PUC to Move Forward on NSA Spying Case Involving Verizon
December 6, 2007 -- For nearly a year -- since Dec. 11, 2006 -- ACLU of Oregon’s inquiry into whether Verizon illegally turned over the private calling records of Oregon telephone customers to the NSA has been in a holding pattern. Today, the ACLU filed a motion with the Oregon Public Utility Commission asking that the stay be lifted and the case move forward. More than 30 civil actions -- all similar to the Oregon request for information regarding phone records that may have been illegally turned over to the government -- had been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Because of that, ACLU of Oregon v. Verizon Northwest Inc. has been held in abeyance “until such time as the 9th Circuit provides clear direction as to appropriate Commission action,” the PUC said in its Dec. 11, 2006, order. Many factors now provide that clear direction, and it’s time to move forward on this case:
“Oregonians deserve to know if Verizon broke the law and gave their private, personal calling records to the National Security Agency,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. “The ‘state secrets’ defense no longer applies; Verizon and the U.S. government have shown they are more than willing to talk about their program when it serves their own interests; we’re asking them to be as forthcoming in telling us whether they allowed the NSA to illegally invade the privacy of Oregon telephone customers.” The ACLU of Oregon has joined more than 20 other ACLU affiliates in seeking to find out whether telecommunications companies bowed to NSA demands and provided private calling records to the government. A copy of the ACLU’s motion to lift the abeyance order is available online. It outlines, in detail, the bulleted items above. ACLU cooperating attorneys on this case are Keith Dubanevich and Mark Friedman of Garvey Schubert Barer.
Previous reports ...PUC Puts Verizon Case on Hold; Dismisses Qwest
January 2007 -- The ACLU of Oregon’s inquiry into whether private calling records of Oregon telephone customers were illegally turned over to the NSA now is in a holding pattern, awaiting a decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Following a December ruling from the state Public Utility Commission, the case now focuses solely on Verizon. While Qwest has been dismissed from the case, the PUC did not dismiss the case against Verizon. In fact, the PUC denied three separate arguments from Verizon seeking to dismiss the case. Verizon argued unsuccessfully that the ACLU had no standing in the case, that the case interfered with national security and that the case involved “state secrets.” Meanwhile, more than 30 civil actions all alleging the same illegal sharing of records with the NSA have been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. “Thus,” the PUC ruling said, “the issue central to the Commission deciding whether and under what circumstances the Complaint may go forward is now in the hands of the 9th Circuit.” The proceedings, then, are “held in abeyance until such time as the 9th Circuit provides clear direction as to appropriate Commission action,” the PUC said. “In effect, the PUC is saying that it does not want to get out ahead of the cases pending in numerous federal courts,” said cooperating attorney Keith S. Dubanevich of Garvey Schubert Barer in Portland. “Instead, the PUC prefers to let the court system digest the allegations and the state secrets privilege. Once the various courts start deciding these issues, the PUC may lift the order abating our case.” ACLU of Oregon Executive Director David Fidanque noted that our PUC complaint is part of a concerted national strategy to seek rulings on the legality of the NSA’s unprecedented warrantless spying on U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. “The Bush Administration has been shameless in attempting to avoid court rulings on its illegal actions by using the so-called ‘state-secrets’ privilege to get cases dismissed,” Fidanque said. “Unfortunately, the Justice Department has been largely successful in that effort in the lower courts and the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet agreed to review the issue.” In dismissing the case against Qwest, the PUC described the ACLU’s Qwest complaint as being based on “mere suspicion” rather than “reasonable belief.” News reports on the NSA’s warrantless spying named Verizon as a participant but said Qwest had rebuffed early overtures from the NSA to participate in the program. Qwest has adamantly refused to answer ACLU’s inquiry into the possible illegal sharing of phone records, and the PUC ruled that “Qwest is under no obligation to answer any inquiry not required by statute, rule, tariff or case law.” It added, “No factual inferences can properly be drawn from its refusal to respond.” While we could not obtain sufficient evidence to keep Qwest in the case, we remain very troubled by its refusal to inform Oregonians about its practices. Another company, by comparison, was much more forthright in its response. Embarq (formerly United Telephone Company of the Northwest dba Sprint) informed the ACLU of Oregon by letter in September that “it is not United’s policy to provide, nor has it actually provided, customer call detail information or access to customer calls, i.e. wiretapping, to any government agency or third party in the absence of subpoena, warrant or court order requiring us to do so.” As a result of that letter, ACLU dismissed Embarq from the current proceedings. The ACLU of Oregon will continue to monitor the 9th Circuit, paying particular attention to Hepting v. AT&T, which is presently on appeal in the 9th Circuit. Other Documents Available Online:
|
Legal Documents
Press Releases |