The judge presiding over the case, US District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco, announced late Monday he wanted to discuss法官主持的情况下，美国地方法院法官沃恩沃克在旧金山宣布，周一尾盘，他希望讨论 11 questions 11个问题 (.pdf) at Tuesday’s hearing, one of which goes directly to the heart of the immunity legislation. （ 。 PDF格式）在周二举行的听证会，其中直接用于核心的豁免权的立法。

“Is there any precedent for this type of enactment that is analogous in all of these respects: retroactivity; immunity for constitutional violations; and delegation of broad discretion to the executive branch to determine whether to invoke the provision?,” the judge asked. “是否有任何先例这种类型的颁布是类似于在所有这些方面：既往;豁免权宪法的行为;和代表团的广泛的自由裁量权的行政部门，以确定是否援引的规定？ ， ”法官问。

Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, says the immunity legislation, if upheld, “makes it possible to extend immunity to other areas of the law.”卡尔拜厄斯教授在里士满大学法学院说，立法的豁免权，如果维持原判， “使我们能够延长豁免权的其他法律领域。 ”

He agreed, for example, that it would not be far-fetched to imagine Congress immunizing ExxonMobil for the 1989 Valdez oil spill “for national security reasons.” A jury awarded about $5 billion in punitive damages in that case, an amount the courts reduced to $500 million.他同意，例如，它不会牵强附会想象国会免疫埃克森美孚公司的1989年石油泄漏巴尔德斯“对国家安全的原因。 ”陪审团裁定约50亿美元的惩罚性赔偿在这种情况下，这一数额减少法院5亿美元。

In the telecom immunity challenge, the government argues that the telecoms should not be punished, or suffer the threat of punishment, for a surveillance program that the Bush administration claims was designed only to fight terrorism.在电信豁免权的挑战，政府认为，电信不应该受到惩罚，或受到威胁的惩罚，为监视计划，布什政府索赔只是为了打击恐怖主义。 The government also denies the lawsuits’ allegations that the surveillance was a broad dragnet that sucked down Americans’ communications on a wholesale basis.政府还否认了诉讼，指控监视着广泛的天罗地网的吸了美国人的通讯批发的基础。

The administration also says the immunity is warranted because the lawsuits threaten to expose government secrets.布什政府还表示，豁免权是必要，因为诉讼威胁，揭露政府机密。

The EFF brought the original spying lawsuit in 2006 against AT&T, and has since been joined by dozens of others targeting the nation’s telecommunications companies.该基金会的原始提请诉讼间谍在2006年对AT ＆ T公司，并已加入了几十人针对国家的电信公司。

The EFF’s case, which has been consolidated with the others in the US District Court of San Francisco, includes so-called whistle-blower documents from a former AT&T technician.该基金会的情况，这已经得到巩固与其他在美国联邦地方法院的旧金山，包括所谓的举报人从一个文件前AT ＆ T技术员。 The EFF claims the documents describe a secret room in an AT&T building in San Francisco that is wired to share raw internet traffic with the NSA.该基金会要求的文件描述了密室的AT ＆ T的建设在旧金山这是有线共享互联网流量原料与消极安全保证。

The government sought to dismiss the original EFF case, and others that followed, on the grounds that they threatened to expose state secrets.政府要求撤销原来的贷款情况下，和其他人之后，理由是他们威胁要揭露国家机密。 Judge Walker has ruled against the government, saying the case could proceed.沃克法官裁定对政府说，可能的情况下进行。

The government appealed.政府提出上诉。 But before the appeal was decided, Congress on July 9 gave the president the power to grant immunity to the carriers.但在此之前的上诉决定，国会在7月9日给布什总统的权力授予豁免权的运营商。

The那个 EFF基金会 is now现在是 challenging the immunity legislation富有挑战性的豁免权的立法 on the grounds that it seeks to circumvent the Constitution’s separation of powers clause, as well as Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.的理由是，它试图绕过宪法的权力分立的条款，以及美国的第四修正案权利，防止不合理的搜查和扣押。

“The legislation is an attempt to give the president the authority to terminate claims that the president has violated the people’s Fourth Amendment rights,” the EFF’s Cohn says. “立法是企图给总统的权力，终止债权，总统违反了人民群众的第四条修正案的权利， ”该基金会的科恩说。 “You can’t do that.” “你不能这样做。 ”

Two weeks ago, the administration told Walker in a两个星期前，布什政府对沃克在 court filing法庭文件 (.pdf) that the immunity legislation “represents the considered judgment of our nation’s political branches that, in the unique historical circumstances following the 9/11 attacks, telecommunications companies should not bear the burden of defending against claims that those companies assisted the government in its efforts to detect and prevent further terrorist attacks.” （ 。 PDF格式）的豁免权的立法“代表了深思熟虑的判断我们国家的政治分支，在独特的历史情况后， 9 / 11恐怖袭击，电信公司不应该承担抵御声称，这些公司协助政府在努力发现和防止更多的恐怖袭击。 “

Congress, the government continued, “concluded that those companies should not face further litigation if they provided such assistance pursuant to a court order or a written certification, directive or request from a senior government official, or did not provide the alleged assistance.”国会，政府继续说， “得出结论认为，这些公司不应将面临进一步的诉讼，如果他们提供的这种援助根据法院的命令或书面证明，指令或要求政府高级官员，或没有提供所谓的援助。 ”

The immunity law allows the government to file a classified brief with Judge Walker activating immunity for a particular communication company.豁免权法允许政府一份机密文件与法官介绍沃克激活免疫针对特定通讯公司。 Walker then has little power to deny the request, unless the judge finds the immunity legislation is itself unconstitutional.沃克则几乎没有权力拒绝这一要求，除非法官认为，豁免权的立法本身就是违宪。

Oral arguments in Walker’s courtroom are scheduled for 10 am PST on Tuesday.口头辩论沃克的审判定于太平洋标准时间上午10时星期二。 Threat Level will cover the proceedings live威胁级别将涉及诉讼活 . 。