The EFF has been involved in a series of lawsuits against the government and telcos concerning the

The EFF has been involved in a series of lawsuits against the government and telcos concerning the almost certainly illegal warrantless wiretapping program that the US has been using for many years, which was exposed by the NY Times and Wired a few years back. The US government more or less admitted what it was doing was entirely illegal when it passed new legislation that (a) tried to make the warrantless wiretapping legal and (b) granted telcos retroactive immunity from any lawsuits for helping the government. Because of these things -- along with the US's insistence that these lawsuits would reveal state secrets -- all of the lawsuits have been dismissed. However, the 9th Circuit appeals court is now considering restating them after an appeal via the EFF.

What's pretty stunning about the federal government's position is that it seems so farcical on its face. It seems to be claiming that (1) as long as the government breaks the law in a classified way, that can never be subject to litigation and (2) if lawsuits concerning illegal activity would be a burden on those who participated in the illegal activity, then such lawsuits should not be allowed. I'm not kidding. A couple of quotes:
“Congress made a considered decision that it would be unfair if [the telcos] were subject to potential suits and ruinous liability,” Kellogg said.

Department of Justice Attorney Thomas Bondy urged the panel of judges to abide by Congress’ wishes. He repeated over and again that litigating the allegations would expose national security secrets.

“Who was or who was not surveilled, that’s classified,” he said. “What any particular carrier did or did not do, that’s all classified.”
But combine those two things and you're basically saying the government has full impunity to do whatever the hell it wants and can never face any legal consequences. On top of that, those who help the government can never face legal consequences either. How does that possibly make sense? It appears that at least two of the judges on the three judge panel had significant concerns about this:
Judge Michael Daly Hawkins wondered aloud, “If these plaintiff’s don’t have standing, who would?” Judge M. Margaret McKeown said the “concern” she had was that the suits’ dismissal “cuts off the plaintiffs … from ever pursuing a claim.”
But, those random musings aren't necessarily indicative of how the court will rule. I am hopeful they realize the plainly ridiculous state of the government simply being able to hide any illegal activity behind a claim that "it's classified," and will allow at least some of these cases to go forward.