Appeals Court: NSA Bulk Phone Data Collection Is Illegal

Patriots?

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans' phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes.

In a 97-page ruling, a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a provision of the USA Patriot Act known as Section 215 cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the systematic bulk collection of domestic calling records.

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Thursday’s ruling did not come with any injunction ordering the program to cease, and it is not clear that anything else will happen in the judicial system before Congress has to make a decision about the expiring law.

What?

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The court, in a unanimous ruling written by Judge Gerard E. Lynch, held that Section 215 "cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program." It declared the program illegal, saying, "We do so comfortably in the full understanding that if Congress chooses to authorize such a far-reaching and unprecedented program, it has every opportunity to do so, and to do so unambiguously."

Oh I see. Their idea is that Congress should either explicitly authorize these bulk collections, or else the power will be retired.

These bulk collections, it turns out, are being done thanks to Obama's claimed reading of a law, and the Court found the law does not support his assertion of claimed powers.

Kind of like Obamacare, maybe.

posted by Ace at 12:51 PM

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