SAN FRANCISCO — With an eye seemingly on the appeals court, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker today issued a final judgment in a high-profile warrantless wiretap case, granting attorneys who fought the government their full fee of over $2.5 million but awarding only about $41,000 damages to two plaintiffs subjected to the post-9/11 eavesdropping.
The ruling comes after Walker in March granted summary judgment for the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, saying the government illegally surveilled the Oregon nonprofit. The wiretap violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the judge ruled.
