16 June 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/16/nyregion/16subpoena.html
New York Times, June 16, 2006:New Jersey Demands Data on Phone Call Surveillance and Is Sued by U.S.
By DAVID W. CHEN and MATT RICHTEL
[Excerpt]
TRENTON, June 15 — The New Jersey attorney general has issued subpoenas to five telephone companies to determine whether any of them violated the state's consumer protection laws by providing records to the National Security Agency. Experts say it is the first legal move by a state to question the agency's program to compile calling records to track terrorist activities.
On Wednesday, the United States filed a lawsuit to block the subpoenas, setting up a legal showdown pitting the state's authority to protect consumers' rights against the federal government's national security powers.
"People in New Jersey and people everywhere have privacy rights," the state's attorney general, Zulima V. Farber, said on Thursday. "What we were trying to determine was whether the phone companies in New Jersey had violated any law or any contractual obligations with their consumers by supplying information to some government entity, simply by request, and not by any court order or search warrant."
This latest confrontation over the invocation of national security began last month, when Ms. Farber issued the subpoenas to the companies — AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless — to determine whether they had turned over the phone records to the federal government without a court order, in possible violation of state laws.
But when the Justice Department filed suit in United States District Court here to block those subpoenas — a suit that Ms. Farber received on Thursday — it asserted that the state was straying into a federal matter, and that compliance with the subpoenas would imperil national security.
Source: Electronic filing system for US District Court for New Jersey:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. FARBER et al Assigned to: Judge Stanley R. Chesler Referred to: Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni Cause: 28:1331 Enforcement of Administrative Subpoena |
Date Filed: 06/14/2006 Jury Demand: None Nature of Suit: 950 Constitutional - State Statute Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Plaintiff |
| Plaintiff | ||
| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | represented by | CARL J NICHOLS US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL PROGRAMS BRANCH CIVIL DIVISION 950 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW ROOM 3141 WASHINGTON, DC 20530 US 202-514-3310 Email: carl.nichols@usdoj.gov LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED IRENE E. DOWDY UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 402 EAST STATE STREET SUITE 430 TRENTON, NJ 08608 (609) 989-2190 Fax: (609) 989-2360 Email: irene.dowdy@usdoj.gov LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED ALEXANDER KENNETH HAAS UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE P.O. BOX 883 WASHINGTON, DC 20044 US 202-307-3937 Email: alexander.haas@usdoj.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED |
V. |
||
| Defendant | ||
| ZULIMA V. FARBER in her official capacity as Attorney General of the State of New Jersey |
||
| Defendant | ||
| CATHLEEN O'DONNELL in her official capacity as Deputy Attorney General of the State of New Jersey |
||
| Defendant | ||
| KIMBERLY RICKETTS in her official capacity as Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs |
||
| Defendant | ||
| AT&T CORP. | ||
| Defendant | ||
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | ||
| Defendant | ||
| QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. | ||
| Defendant | ||
| SPRINT NEXTEL CORPORATION | ||
| Defendant | ||
| CINGULAR WIRELESS LLC. | ||
[Links are to PDFs on Cryptome. The eight files Zipped:
http://cryptome.org/usa-v-nj-001-005.zip
(1.6MB)]
Date Filed |
# |
Docket Text |
| 06/14/2006 | 1 | COMPLAINT against SPRINT NEXTEL CORPORATION, CINGULAR WIRELESS
LLC., ZULIMA V. FARBER, CATHLEEN O'DONNELL, KIMBERLY RICKETTS, AT&T CORP.,
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. ( Filing
fee $ 0.00 receipt number -.) , filed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (Attachments:
# 1 Errata A#
2 Exhibit B#
3 Exhibit C)(tp ) (Entered:
06/15/2006)
[Note that #1 and #2 are, respectively, declarations by DNI Negroponte and DIRNSA Alexander filed in the Hepting case in Northern California. #3 are the subpoenas issued by the State of New Jersey to the telcos.] |
| 06/15/2006 | Summons Issued as to ZULIMA V. FARBER, CATHLEEN O'DONNELL, KIMBERLY RICKETTS. (Days Due - 20 - Handed to Counsel) (ms) (Entered: 06/15/2006) | |
| 06/15/2006 | 2 | SUMMONS Returned Executed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ZULIMA V. FARBER served on 6/15/2006, answer due 7/5/2006. (DOWDY, IRENE) (Entered: 06/15/2006) |
| 06/15/2006 | 3 | SUMMONS Returned Executed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. KIMBERLY RICKETTS served on 6/15/2006, answer due 7/5/2006. (DOWDY, IRENE) (Entered: 06/15/2006) |
| 06/15/2006 | 4 | NOTICE by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA of Appearance of Carl J. Nichols (HAAS, ALEXANDER) (Entered: 06/15/2006) |
| 06/15/2006 | 5 | NOTICE of Appearance by ALEXANDER KENNETH HAAS on behalf of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (HAAS, ALEXANDER) (Entered: 06/15/2006) |