THE UNITED STATES Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Thursday that the bulk collection of phone metadata by the NSA was illegal under federal law.
Rather than address the constitutionality of the program, the court took a much simpler tack. The decision concludes that the practice is beyond the scope of what the US Congress had in mind when it passed section 215 of the Patriot Act after September 11, 2001.
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and had been dismissed in 2013 by a lower court. Today's ruling vacates that decision, and could pave the way for a full legal challenge of NSA collection methods, which were first brought to light by Edward Snowden.
Also at: The Intercept, EFF, El Reg, BBC, NYT.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday May 07 2015, @06:06PM
Not that this will stop them from doing it, though.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday May 07 2015, @06:10PM
I'm not sure of any time in the last century that the executive has actively refused a court's ruling.
"Worked around" them? Yes.
Willfully misinterpreted them? Sure.
Reshuffled things and started the same behavior under a different department and administration? Probably.
But actively refused? Haven't heard of it.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday May 07 2015, @07:10PM
It is the workarounds I am referring to.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday May 07 2015, @07:12PM
Yes, but that's the whole point of rule of law. You do what you're told to and you're good. Not what is necessarily the best interpretation of what you're told.
If something else broken happens later, you need to double down, get with the ACLU and ETF and sue that broken system too. It's how you make legal progress in a republic.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday May 07 2015, @09:43PM
Yeah, you are right. But I am still allowed to be pissed off that our own government works so hard to subvert our own laws.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ikanreed on Friday May 08 2015, @01:30PM
Please do. But don't feel the situation is hopeless. That just makes it easier for them.
(Score: 2) by CirclesInSand on Friday May 08 2015, @04:22AM
What about when the supreme court ordered the TSA to inspect their body scanners before using them? The TSA ignored the supreme court for the better part of a year iirc. Can't find a good reference for it though.