The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday appealed the dismissal of its lawsuit challenging a government spying law as unconstitutional.
The ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed the landmark lawsuit in July 2008 to stop the government from conducting surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which the ACLU says gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to sweep up Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls.
U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York dismissed the case in August on "standing" grounds, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have the right to challenge the new surveillance law because they could not prove with certainty that their own communications had been monitored under it.
Read more: The Hill