Warrantless Wiretapping: Should Feds Pay for Snooping on Suspected Terror Group?
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Dec. 22, 2010— -- A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government went too far in its efforts to monitor an Islamic charity with suspected terrorist ties, tapping the group's phones without a warrant.
U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has ordered the government to pay some $2.5 million in damages and attorneys fees to the organization, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which is no longer operating.
The four-year legal battle centered on elements of the Terrorist Surveillance Program, put in place under the Bush administration and since abandoned.
While not speaking directly about this case, FBI Director Robert Mueller spoke earlier this year about government's need to monitor terror groups, declaring that wiretap laws and phone and Internet providers have not kept pace with changing technology.
Our question to you today: Should the government pay for tapping a suspected terrorist organization's phones without a warrant?