On the al-Haramain Decision
Thanks to bmaz for sitting in a crappy rental car in SF for the last month and a half waiting for Vaughn Walker to make a peep. As he reported, Walker has ordered the government and the al-Haramain team to figure out a way to move forward with the litigation.
Accordingly, the parties are hereby ordered to meet and confer regarding the entry of an appropriate protective order which shall be entered herein before the court rules on the merits.
Frankly, that order is largely a punt. The government and al-Haramain have been squabbling about access for months now, there’s no reason to expect them to be able to come to a resolution, even if Walker pointed them to an approach he seems to think will work. He could have just ordered them to follow that approach, but did not.
But here are the two aspects of the order that are not a punt. First, Walker makes it clear he has read all the documents submitted in this case.
The court has, in keeping with its orders dated January 5 (Doc #537/57), February 13 (Doc #562/71) and February 19 (Doc #566/75), reviewed the Sealed Document and the parties’ various submissions on the subject of appropriate measures to prevent disclosure of classified information while allowing “both parties [] access to the material upon which the court makes a decision.”
And he has said, clearly, that it’s time to get this litigation moving.
The court will then consider the submissions and enter a protective order under which this case may resume forward progress.
In other words, Walker has said, "I’ve read the secret evidence in this case and now I want you guys to figure out how to move foward with this case."
Which pretty much implies that, having read the evidence, Walker believes it will move forward. Unless I’m misreading these tea-leaves (which I doubt, because the tea-leaves have been reading the same way since well before January), Walker is prepared to rule that al-Haramain is an aggrieved party. Meaning, Walker is convinced the government wiretapped al-Haramain illegally.
Not a surprise, in the least, but it’s nice we’re finally getting around to this.
So why the punt, and why the delay?
First, a wildarsed guess. I think the delay may have related to the third of the related warrantless wiretap cases before Walker. You’ll recall the filing submitted two weeks ago, once again making expansive claims of privacy and claiming the government is immune from suit. Read more →