"The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal filed on behalf of a German citizen of Lebanese descent who claims he was abducted by United States agents and then tortured by them while imprisoned in Afghanistan," reports The New York Times. "Without comment," the report explains, "the justices let stand an appeals court ruling that the state secrets privilege, a judicially created doctrine that the Bush administration has invoked to win dismissal of lawsuits that touch on issues of national security, protected the government's actions from court review."

The Washington Post reports, "House Democrats plan to introduce a bill this week that would let a secret court issue one-year 'umbrella' warrants to allow the government to intercept e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets and would not require that surveillance of each person be approved individually." According to the report, "The bill is likely to resurrect controversy that erupted this summer when Congress, under White House pressure, rushed through a temporary emergency law that expanded the government's authority to conduct foreign surveillance on U.S. soil without a warrant. The Protect America Act, which expires in February, has been criticized as being too broad and lacking effective court oversight."