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Judge Strikes Down NSA Spying Program And Labels It ‘Orwellian’
A federal judge handed civil liberties groups a landmark victory Monday, issuing an injunction against the National Security Agency’s phone surveillance program in a scathing ruling that labeled the agency’s actions “almost-Orwellian” and unconstitutional.
Under the program, the NSA collects data on all telephone calls made in the United States. The agency says the program is necessary in the war against terrorism, but critics say the actions are a clear violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Judge Richard J. Leon halted the program but stayed his injunction, meaning the NSA can continue to collect the data while the ruling is appealed. Nevertheless, the tone of Leon’s ruling was a big blow to the Obama administration and politicians from both parties who have defended the program.
Leon reached back to the Founding Fathers in blasting the program.
“Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree or privacy’ that the Founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” wrote Leon, a nominee of President George W. Bush. “Indeed, I have little doubt that the author of our Constitution, James Madison, who cautioned us to beware ‘the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power,’ would be aghast.”
The case was brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman.
Source: http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/12/16/judge-strikes-down-nsa-spying-program-and-labels-it-orwellian/
