President Bush Tries Once Again to Close the Courthouse Doors, This Time to Shield Domestic Spying

On Wednesday, a federal court of appeals in California heard oral argument in a case involving the Bush administration's spying on Americans, Hepting v. AT&T. The plaintiffs have charged that AT&T illegally cooperated with the Administration's unlawful, warrantless surveillance of Americans. But if President Bush has his way, no court will even be able to review these claims. According to the president, judicial review of the charges of illegal spying on Americans would require the disclosure of "state secrets," and thus the courts cannot even hear the plaintiffs' claims.

Americans need to sit up and take notice of this case. It's another instance not only of the Bush Administration's efforts to create an imperial presidency, it's also another frightening example of the president's efforts to close the courthouse doors, and to deny access to justice to Americans seeking to preserve the Constitution and vindicate their legal rights. The drafters of our Constitution wisely created a government of checks and balances, in which the federal judiciary is a critical check on the powers of the other two branches, including those of the president. But time and again, through the people he has nominated to be federal judges and through the arguments he has made in court, president Bush has sought to weaken if not destroy the federal judiciary, and to close the courthouse doors to ordinary Americans.

We cannot let this happen. People For the America Way Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief in this case opposing the president's efforts to escape judicial review of his domestic surveillance program. By all accounts, the judges who heard this case on Wednesday were skeptical of the president's claims. But however they ultimately rule, they may not have the last word. Waiting in the wings will be the Justices of the Supreme Court, including Bush appointees Roberts and Alito -- who have already shown themselves ready, willing, and able to kick Americans out of court.