Judge Rules NSA Phone Monitoring Unconstitutional

[GatorGray]

A federal judge says the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records violates the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches. The judge put his decision on hold pending a nearly certain government appeal.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon has granted a preliminary injunction sought by plaintiffs Larry Klayman and Charles Strange, concluding they were likely to prevail in their constitutional challenge. Leon ruled Monday that the two men are likely to be able to show that their privacy interests outweigh the government's interest in collecting the data. Leon says that means that massive collection program is an unreasonable search under the Constitution's Fourth Amendment.

LINK

 

[CommieGator]

"As laws,
treaties, regulations, and our constitution are brutalized,
circumvented or ignored, the Presidency will assume so much power
that the other branches will perform little more than a ceremonial
function. Meanwhile, with Congress effectively neutered, internal
debate stifled, and dissenters persecuted, the last institution
standing in the way of a perfect autocracy will be the plaintiff's
bar.."

- From J. Russell Tyldesley's article "The Real Goal of Tort Reform"

For those of you that have been around as long as I have on this board, you'll note I've pasted this quote two or three times before, mostly in response to conservative posters that have argued that tort reform is a positive check on the escalating costs of heath care, but I've found Mr. Tyldesley's 2004 article profoundly transcends just the push for reform in the medical community- especially in recent years...

I know Space and other lawyers will enjoy this article, and it's long- but I really think it's a worthwhile read for laypersons as well. At this point the judiciary may be our last hope.