Judge tosses lawsuit over FBI surveillance of California mosques

August 14, 2012|By Dan Whitcomb | Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit charging that the FBI violated civil liberties by sending an informant into several California mosques to spy on U.S. Muslims, ruling that allowing the case to proceed could risk disclosure of government secrets.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney wrote in a 36-page order that he was reluctant to toss out the case before it could be litigated but was forced to weigh national security against individual liberties and an open judicial process.

In the decision, Carney compared himself to the fictional Greek hero Odysseus, who while sailing home from the Trojan War faced navigating his ship between a six-headed monster on one side and a dangerous whirlpool on the other.

Judge tosses lawsuit over FBI surveillance of California mosques