Judge: NSA Spying Likely Unconstitutional

[Coyotl]

Dec 16, 2013

"A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate that collecting the information had helped to head off terrorist attacks...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

[cantbeserious]

1. Well - Of Course!

eom

[another_liberal]

2. What if the government doesn't appeal?

Will the Judge's ruling simply stay in limbo if the government doesn't appeal it? If that is the case, why would they bother?

[hueymahl]

3. Good Question

The answer is if the government has a fixed period of time to file notice of a appeal under the Federal Rules of Civli Proceedure (30 days, I believe). If they fail to file the appeal, the order becomes final.

[another_liberal]

5. That sounds reasonable.

Thanks for answering my question.

[elias7]

4. "likely" is an understatement given what Leon said

“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analyzing it without judicial approval,”