In her order, Judge Illston ordered the government to stop issuing national security letters or enforcing their gag orders, although she said enforcement of her judgment would be stayed pending appeal.
In each case, the initial rush to judgment by law enforcement and the media may have distracted officials from the real perpetrator and caused unnecessary harm to individuals and ethnic groups who had nothing to do with the attacks.
As a former prosecutor and defense lawyer who actually understands both how to investigate cases and how they play out in the courtroom, Mary Jo White will bring a level of judgment and expertise in evaluating enforcement proceedings that few can claim to match.
They need that evidence to block U.S. enforcement of the expected multibillion-dollar pollution judgment in Ecuador, which is pretty much worthless to the plaintiffs unless they can convince courts in a country where Chevron has assets to seize them.