NSA Spying Takes First Judicial Hit: Violates 4th Amendment
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon provided his "opinion" (more on that later) on Monday that the NSA's all-encompassing domestic spying program (PRISM) likely violates the 4th Amendment. He states in his 68 page report that:
“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.”
Leon disagrees with the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (isn't it great that the State created its own special kangaroo court just for this, which we commoners can't access or know about?) findings and those from an earlier Maryland court ruling about the liberty and privacy intrusions posed by phone surveillance. His reasoning is beyond sound.
“The ubiquity of phones has dramatically altered the quantity of information that is now available and, more importantly, what that information can tell the Government about people’s lives,” the judge wrote. “I cannot possibly navigate these uncharted Fourth Amendment waters using as my North Star a case that predates the rise of cell phones.”
“The government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the Government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature.”
Politico points out that the judge was appointed by George W. Bush, which is humorous, as this domestic spying is a direct descendant of the privacy violations enabled by the Patriot Act, enacted under that lowly President.This opinion doesn't provide an official ruling on the constitutionality of the spying program, but it does indicate the potential leanings of the courts on this subject. It remains to be seen if other judges agree as lawsuits are brought against the government but this is a good first knock against the NSA's program and hopefully a "North Star" to guide them.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
