Republican appointed judge ruled in favor of the Constitution while the democrat appointed judge ruled against the Constitution! Now that Reid has invoked the nuclear option you can expect more “Orwellian” decisions to come out of the court system! There will be far less Judge Leon’s being appointed and more Judge Pauley’s as we go forward under the obama regime! Reid will ensure the courts are stacked with radical judges to carry on the emperors legacy long after he has left office. America let this be a lesson that elections have consequences!
…..
Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
by Charlie Savage | NYT
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans’ phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, describing its technology as “almost Orwellian†and suggesting that James Madison would be “aghast†to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way.
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Judge Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,†allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.
“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 and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,†Judge Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,†which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures...more
——
NSA collection of phone data is lawful, federal judge rules
By Sari Horwitz | WaPo
A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that the massive collection of domestic telephone data brought to light by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is lawful, rejecting a challenge to the program by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The decision marked a victory for the government less than two weeks after a District Court judge ruled against it, finding that the NSA’s program was almost certainly unconstitutional. If the split in rulings continues through the appeals process, it is likely the Supreme Court will have to decide the issue...more