Saturday, July 7, 2007

Still so mad

I'm still so mad that I just can't post anything... Ok, not quite true, it is also a semi-vacation time for me (and my daughter has been a bit out of sorts) so I haven't much felt like posting anything. But it is true that between the Libby bullshit and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals wimping out on the eavesdropping case by dismissing on standing in a classic Catch-22 maneuver that I really am feeling out of sorts and pissed off. I do have a few things kicking around in my head that I wanted to post about that perhaps I shall get to tomorrow. Suffice it to say that the news has been a bit depressing lately.

2 comments:

armagh444 said...

The thing that always drove me nuts back when I was in law school (and still drives me nuts, if I'm to be honest) about justiciability doctrine is the manner in which courts can use issues like standing to punt things they really don't want to deal with. Yes, there are valid concerns underlying the involved doctrines, but their so easy to abuse that I sometimes find myself wishing that the Court would find a different way to hand the "case or controversy" requirement.

DBB said...

What is so infuriating is that, even if you grant that standing is important, in a case like THIS (where the issue is the government Illegally and Secretly wiretapping you) they really need to use some common sense - at the very least, the court should have ordered the government to turn over all documentation regarding whether those individuals had, in fact, been wiretapped - perhaps only in camera (for the judge's eyes only for the non-lawyers) - and then, if it turns out that any of the plaintiffs have been spied upon, then let it proceed. of course, I'd let it go just based on the chilling effect of the possiblity of wiretapping - a special exception to normal standing to deal with the catch-22.