Court Says It’s Too Early to Rule on Surveillance Issue
- Share via
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it was premature to decide the constitutionality of government surveillance conducted while investigating seven Los Angeles-area Palestinians and a Kenyan, whom the government has been attempting to deport.
The eight were originally charged with subversion 3 1/2 years ago, and have been fighting deportation proceedings in U.S. Immigration Court in Los Angeles. Currently, two of the defendants face subversion charges, while the others are accused of a variety of visa violations. The surveillance was conducted by a top-secret unit of the Justice Department.
A federal judge had declined to hear arguments of the American Civil Liberties Union which contended the surveillance was unconstitutional. In a 3-0 opinion, the appellate court said, in effect, the deportation proceedings would have to be resolved first before it could consider the surveillance issue.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
The latest effort is coming from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. They just announced a $3 million program in conjunction with some nonprofits groups to test and clean the soil at homes still standing in the areas impacted by the Eaton Fire.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Dr. Vanessa J. Díaz, professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at Loyola Marymount University and co-author of P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.
