Federal appeals court rules that NSA phone program exceeded authorization of Patriot Act
The ruling greatly increases the pressure on Congress to make significant changes””or end outright””the surveillance program. The judges not only ruled against the phone program, but sharply criticized many of the legal theories upon which the U.S. government has built out its surveillance capabilities since the 2001 terror attacks…
The program gathers metadata””the records of which numbers are called, the time, and the duration of those calls””but not the contents of the conversations.
The actual ruling can be found here, if you’re up for close to 100 pages of reading. It was handed down by a three-judge panel in New York.
It was a relatively narrow ruling in terms of its effect:
The court declined to address the issue of whether the program violates Americans’ rights, because, they found, it was never properly authorized by existing law. And the judges didn’t order the collection to stop, noting the legislative debate and the looming expiration of Section 215 will force action on the issue one way or another.
So I’m not sure that this is a very big deal at all.
I am sure McConnell will be quick to push for reauthorization of Section 215. Maybe after he moves to give Obama fast track authority for the ‘free trade’ agreement.
The reason the Left blamed Bush for Patriot Act restricting civil liberties is because the Left knew that the Patriot Act would be used by the Left to restrict civil liberties. And they didn’t like how Bush was using it.
Meanwhile, people complained that Bush wasn’t doing enough to fight back against the media. Well that’s why the Left will show you how to Really use the Patriot Act to make the media say what the White House tells them to say.
The ruling changes nothing. Until further notice, the 4th is in the garbage can.