potential subjective chill as in Laird. Also, the Supreme Court in Presbyterian Church v. United States, granted standing to a church which suffered decreased attendance and participation when the government actually entered the church to conduct surveillance. Presbyterian Church, 870 F.2d at 522. Lastly, in Jabara v. Kelley, 476 F.Supp. 561 (E.D. Mich. 1979), vac'd on other grounds sub. nom. Jabara v. Webster, 691 F.2d 272 (6th Cir. 1982), the court held that an attorney had standing to sue to enjoin unlawful FBI and NSA surveillance which had deterred others from associating with him and caused "injury to his reputation and legal business." Id. at 568.
These cases constitute acknowledgment that substantial burdens upon a plaintiff's professional activities are an injury sufficient to support standing. Defendants ignore the significant, concrete injuries which Plaintiffs continue to experience from Defendants' illegal monitoring of their telephone conversations and email communications. Plaintiffs undeniably have cited to distinct, palpable, and substantial injuries that have resulted from the TSP.
This court finds that the injuries alleged by Plaintiffs are "concrete and particularized", and not "abstract or conjectural." The TSP is not hypothetical, it is an actual surveillance program that was admittedly instituted after September 11, 2001, and has been reauthorized by the President more than thirty times since the attacks.[1] The President has, moreover, emphasized that he intends to continue to reauthorize the TSP indefinitely.[2] Further, the court need not speculate upon the kind of activity the Plaintiffs want to engage in - they want to engage in conversations with individuals abroad without fear that their First Amendment rights are being infringed upon. Therefore, this court concludes that Plaintiffs have satisfied the requirement of alleging "actual or threatened [*23]
- ↑ Archived at GeorgeWBush-WhiteHouse.Archives.Gov
- ↑ Id.
