News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by sneak on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:00PM (#28555797)
If the executive branch can classify things as sensitive to the national security, and there is a state secrets exception to trial, then how on Earth are the judiciary and executive on equal footing if the executive can simply cause a default outcome of any trial against it?

The programs in question here are also clearly not national security matters. They were made public, are illegal, and the security of the nation was not affected in any way.

The whole house is built on a foundation of lies.

Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by xxpor on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:16PM (#28555995)
>how on Earth are the judiciary and executive on equal footing if the executive can simply cause a default outcome of any trial against it?

You have to remember, the default answer to "Can I sue the government?" is No. The only suits you're allowed to take to trial are ones the government has allowed themselves to be sued for.

For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Tort_Claims_Act

While I think the entire idea of sovereign immunity is bullshit, the chance of the doctrine being overturned is next to 0. So we have to live with it. The point is, you're kind of lucky to even get as far as getting this dismissed over state secrets.

The real problem with the state secret doctrine is when the feds intervene in a suit between two private parties.

https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2014/09/uani-state-secrets/

Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by einpoklum on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:51PM (#28556566)
I believe you're quoting an irrelevant rule.

AFAICT, this was not a torts lawsuit. Wikimedia was not suing for damages, it asked the courts to declare certain government practices illegal and/or force the government to desist these practices.

Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by artificialLimbs on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:09PM (#28555903)
>> If the executive branch can classify things as sensitive to the national security, and there is a state secrets exception to trial, then how on Earth are the judiciary and executive on equal footing if the executive can simply cause a default outcome of any trial against it?

This is the meat of the problem with pervasive surveillance. Until this matter is resolved in such a way that makes any surveillance without a warrant be deemed unconsitutional, the idea of 'freedom' is only a ghost in the U.S.

Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by happythomist on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:34PM (#28556276)
The judiciary and executive are not on an equal footing. The judiciary is the weakest branch of government, and the legislature the strongest.

These kinds of abuses must be addressed by Congress, not the courts.

Re:U.S. court upholds dismissal of lawsuit against NSA on 's... by AnimalMuppet on Thursday September 16, 2021 @03:44PM (#28556456)
The legislature is supposed to be the strongest. But it's so busy infighting that more and more power falls to the executive, so that things actually get done.