Punch and Jurists

In Re NSA Telecommunications Records Litigation, No. MDL Docket No. 06-1791 VRW (N.D.Cal.) (633 F.Supp.2d 949) (June 3, 2009) (Judge Vaughn R. Walker) by In this multidistrict litigation (MDL) brought by individuals against telecommunications companies for allegedly unconstitutional acts of wiretapping committed in concert with governmental entities, the Government intervened …

In Re: Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation, No. Misc. No. 08-0442 (TFH) (D.D.C.) (630 F.Supp.2d 1) (June 1, 2009) (Judge Thomas F. Hogan) by This 19-page ruling by Judge Hogan underscores some of the Government-created obstacles to the ending of the autocratic and arbitrary detention policies at Guantanamo Bay and to …

Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. Bush, No. 06-36083 (9th Cir.) (507 F.3d 1190) (November 16, 2007) (Judge M. Margaret McKeown) by Here the Court held that the plaintiff was barred, under the "state secrets" privilege, from using a top secret document that the FBI had inadvertently given to its counsel …

El-Masri v. U.S., No. 06-1667 (4th Cir.) (479 F.3d 296) (March 2, 2007) (Judge Robert Bruce King) by Khaled El-Masri, the plaintiff in this case, is a German citizen who was detained while traveling in Macedonia and eventually handed over to the CIA, which flew him to Afghanistan and interrogated …

El-Masri v. Tenet, No. 1:05cv1417 (E.D.Va.) (437 F.Supp.2d 530) (May 12, 2006) (Judge Thomas Selby III Ellis) by Plaintiff German citizen claimed to be an innocent victim of the United States' "extraordinary rendition" program and, through three causes of action, sued defendants, the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency …