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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.
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Federal Court Rules NSA Bulk Data Collection Illegal
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Logicians have but ill defined
As rational the human kind.
Logic, they say, belongs to man,
But let them prove it if they can.
-- Oliver Goldsmith
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @06:46PM
Being ignorant of how the government actually works
The NSA has proven how the government actually works: It simply ignores the constitution when it is convenient until stopped with overwhelming forced (hasn't happened yet).
It's not really cynicism, but realism. History shouldn't be ignored.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by ikanreed on Thursday May 07 2015, @06:59PM
God damn, it's like you haven't followed a single element of this entire story since 2006 except the NSA's involved and inappropriate spying happens.
No. It's not "just ignoring the constitution". The broader executive branch has been making up elaborate internal explanations for why the spying is constitutional(using excuses like , and in 2007 (in the case ACLU vs NSA) the Supreme court denied the general public standing for opposing the bill on kinda specious grounds.
This lead to a de jure understanding that the executive memos that justified the program in the first place were still valid according to the courts.
Then Snowden happened, and the ACLU was like "See, this shows concrete harm to individual citizens we have standing" and that's the case that just finished in appeals that we're talking about now.
This whole process has been deeply rooted in legalism and the courts not touching it. This case could indeed facilitate change, though maybe not as much as we want. And you're cynical "they're just ignoring the constitution" bullshit is just that. Cynical bullshit.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday May 07 2015, @07:01PM
Ooops, some html weirdness happend and I lost some text.
Meant to say "(Using excuses like all recorded communication involves at least one foreign person)"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @07:07PM
No. It's not "just ignoring the constitution". The broader executive branch has been making up elaborate internal explanations for why the spying is constitutional(using excuses like , and in 2007 (in the case ACLU vs NSA) the Supreme court denied the general public standing for opposing the bill on kinda specious grounds.
Which are all such logically invalid garbage that they might as well not bother with the excuses.
There is no cynicism here. You're playing semantic games by saying "They have these nonsensical excuses, so *technically* they're not *just* ignoring the constitution!", and it's bullshit. Their excuses are trash and their actions aren't any less unconstitutional. The government has a history of ignoring the constitution, and yes, using bullshit excuses to do it, like with the internment of Japanese citizens.
I don't know why you're so desperate to attack people who acknowledge the reality that creating ridiculous excuses to violate the constitution isn't much better than just outright ignoring it.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday May 07 2015, @07:09PM
Their excuses being trash doesn't matter much if no one can challenge them.
This right now. This is people challenging them.
How is this hard?
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday May 07 2015, @10:21PM
It isn't hard at all. :-)
I think some of this is frustration and impatience with the process.
Trying to turn a juggernaught takes time and a lot of effort. Things did not get this way overnight, and it will take some serious time and effort to straighten out. (YMMV, depending on your expectations)
I think most people forget that bit.
I agree with you that this is progress, and it is about time. Now, I just hope it isn't just a 'flash in the pan', but a trend. :-)
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Friday May 08 2015, @12:34AM
Things did not get this way overnight
Whenever there is a 'tragedy' of some sort, many people--and of course the government--demand that we violate the constitution and people's fundamental liberties in exchange for safety. As long as people believe that physical safety is more important than upholding the principles to which the US is supposed to aspire, our liberties will be in danger. The frustration doesn't come from this specific event, but from the fact that, even if we end up winning this particular battle, there will be an endless number of battles to come.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday May 08 2015, @02:10AM
The frustration doesn't come from this specific event, but from the fact that, even if we end up winning this particular battle, there will be an endless number of battles to come.
That seems to be the case whenever battling the forces of money and lust for power. There is rarely if ever a complete and final victory. Stop unprecedented government spying now, they'll soon try again in the same or other ways. Those who advocate for civil rights or for the environment or for anything else that stands in the way of greed and lust for power never really win, they only gain temporary holds and have to be vigilant, well, forever, as it only takes a minor change at the top to bring all these threats back in full force. Once lost, these things are usually gone forever. In this "Age of Information", there is another front as the public relations battle is always going on. There is a constant smear campaign, with fake bogeymen and plenty of lies, and the biggest efforts are directed against those who most oppose greed.