Hepting et al v. AT&T Corp. et al

Filing 28

MOTION for Leave to File Excess Pages FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION filed by Gregory Hicks, Erik Knutzen, Tash Hepting, Carolyn Jewel. (Kathrein, Reed) (Filed on 4/5/2006)

Hepting et al v. AT&T Corp. et al

Doc. 28

1 ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION CINDY COHN (145997) 2 [e-mail] LEE TIEN (148216) 3 [e-mail] KURT OPSAHL (191303) 4 [e-mail] KEVIN S. BANKSTON (217026) 5 [e-mail] CORYNNE MCSHERRY (221504) 6 [e-mail] JAMES S. TYRE (083117) 7 [e-mail] 454 Shotwell Street 8 San Francisco, CA 94110 Telephone: [phone] (fax) 10 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 11 [Additional counsel appear on signature page.] 12 13 14

TRABER & VOORHEES BERT VOORHEES (137623) [e-mail] THERESA M. TRABER (116305) [e-mail] 128 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 204 Pasadena, CA 91103 Telephone: [phone] (fax)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA No. C-06-00672-VRW CLASS ACTION PLAINTIFFS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO EXTEND PAGE LIMIT FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

15 TASH HEPTING, GREGORY HICKS, ) CAROLYN JEWEL and ERIK KNUTZEN, on ) 16 Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly ) Situated, ) 17 ) Plaintiffs, ) 18 ) vs. ) 19 ) AT&T CORP., et al. ) 20 ) Defendants. ) 21 ) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Dockets.Justia.com

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PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that plaintiffs Tash Hepting, Gregory Hicks, Carolyn Jewel and

2 Erik Knutzen will and hereby move the Court for an order allowing plaintiffs to exceed the page 3 limit set forth in Civil Local Rule 7-4 in Plaintiffs' Amended Notice of Motion and Motion for 4 Preliminary Injunction; Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for 5 Preliminary Injunction. 6 This motion is based on this notice of motion and motion, memorandum of points and

7 authorities, the Declaration of Lee Tien filed herewith, and plaintiffs' amended motion for 8 preliminary injunction and all associated papers. 9 10 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES Plaintiffs seek leave of the Court for a waiver of the page limitations set forth in Civil Local

11 Rule 7-4 on plaintiff's amended motion for preliminary injunction. This request is made for the 12 following reasons: (1) the factual basis for the motion is complicated and requires detailed 13 explanation; and (2) the constitutional and statutory framework is complex. Plaintiffs request that 14 the Civil Local Rule 7-4 limit of 25 pages be waived and that plaintiffs be permitted to file a brief of 15 35 pages. 16 I. 17 18 ARGUMENT A. The Factual Issues in This Case Are Complicated and Technical.

While the basics of this case are straightforward ­ AT&T Corp. ("AT&T") is enabling the

19 National Security Agency ("NSA") to illegally and unconstitutionally eavesdrop on the public at 20 large ­ the mechanism by which defendants are doing this is complicated and requires a detailed 21 factual and technological explanation. Understanding how the NSA's electronic eavesdropping is 22 facilitated by AT&T requires an explanation of Internet traffic, fiber optics, and certain equipment 23 used by telecommunications companies. 24 Additionally, there is a great deal of public information relating to NSA wiretapping that, in

25 this instance, may confuse rather than clarify the situation. The government has admitted that the 26 NSA is engaged in warrantless wiretapping. However, the government has refused to admit that the 27 NSA is wiretapping purely domestic Internet traffic or Internet traffic that does not involve at least 28 one person who is a member or agent of Al Qaeda or an affiliated terrorist organization. To show PLAINTIFFS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO EXTEND PAGE LIMIT FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION - C-06-00672-VRW -1-

1 the factual basis for preliminary injunction, plaintiffs must describe both what the government has 2 admitted and the information plaintiffs have regarding a wiretapping program much broader than 3 what has been recognized by the government. 4 5 B. The Statutory and Constitutional Issues Are Complex.

The warrantless wiretapping implicates Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

6 Streets Act of 1968 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, laws enacted in direct 7 response to illegal warrantless wiretapping of persons in the United States by police and the 8 Executive Branch. The warrantless wiretapping also implicates the Fourth Amendment right to be 9 free from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Understanding the blatant 10 disregard shown by AT&T and the NSA for the legal and constitutional rights of the public requires 11 discussion both of the laws and of the abuses that led to them. 12 II. 13 CONCLUSION For the above reasons, plaintiffs request that this Court permit plaintiffs to file a brief totaling

14 35 pages. 15 DATED: April 5, 2006 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PLAINTIFFS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO EXTEND PAGE LIMIT FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION - C-06-00672-VRW -2/s/ CINDY COHN CINDY COHN 454 Shotwell Street San Francisco, CA 94110 Telephone: [phone] (fax) ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION CINDY COHN LEE TIEN KURT OPSAHL KEVIN S. BANKSTON CORYNNE MCSHERRY JAMES S. TYRE

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TRABER & VOORHEES BERT VOORHEES THERESA M. TRABER 128 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 204 Pasadena, CA 91103 Telephone: [phone] (fax) LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP REED R. KATHREIN JEFF D. FRIEDMAN SHANA E. SCARLETT MARIA V. MORRIS 100 Pine Street, Suite 2600 San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: [phone] (fax) LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP ERIC ALAN ISAACSON 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Telephone: [phone] (fax) LAW OFFICE OF RICHARD R. WIEBE RICHARD R. WIEBE 425 California Street, Suite 2025 San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: [phone] (fax) Attorneys for Plaintiffs I, Reed R. Kathrein, am the ECF User whose ID and password are being used to file this PLAINTIFFS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO EXTEND PAGE LIMIT FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION. In compliance with General Order 45, X.B., I hereby attest that Cindy Cohn has concurred in this filing.
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PLAINTIFFS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO EXTEND PAGE LIMIT FOR THE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION - C-06-00672-VRW

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