A U.S. spying program that systematically collects millions of Americans' phone records is illegal, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday, putting pressure on Congress to quickly decide whether to replace or end the controversial anti-terrorism surveillance.
Ruling on a program revealed by former government security contractor Edward Snowden, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the Patriot Act did not authorize the National Security Agency to collect Americans' calling records in bulk.
Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for a three-judge panel that Section 215, which addresses the FBI's ability to gather business records, could not be interpreted to have permitted the NSA to collect a "staggering" amount of phone records, contrary to claims by the Bush and Obama administrations.
"Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans," Lynch wrote in a 97-page decision. "We would expect such a momentous decision to be preceded by substantial debate, and expressed in unmistakable language. There is no evidence of such a debate."
The appeals court did NOT rule as to whether or not the spying violated the Constitution, and they also declined to call a halt to the program citing the fact that parts of the Patriot Act are up for renewal on June 1.
So what happens now?
It is hard to imagine that the United States is going to dismantle the program even in the face of this ruling, governments typically do not give up this kind of power voluntarily.
Which leads me to believe that the Congress might instead vote to alter it in a way that makes it more palatable to the legal system (They are already talking about doing that.), or that the government will challenge this ruling and take it to the Supreme Court.
And let's face it, the way the Supreme Court lines up right now it seems unlikely they will rule against the program.
It is also time to admit that, regardless of our personal feelings about the guy, without Edward Snowden this would never have gone to trial.
In fact most of us would be blissfully unaware that our phone records were even being tracked.
How could we be unaware? I have known this since Bush. Mr. "Kept Us Safe" after 3 thousand died on our shores whole he was 'blissfully unaware' on his monthlong vacation allowed this program to be set up with his full cooperation. John Yoo told him it was as legal as waterboarding.
ReplyDeleteWhat will be interesting is how angry the RW will get at OBAMA over this. Watch. Heads will explode at Fox and on RW radio. "Over reach! Impeach! Obama plans to take over the country and turn it into his personal communist playground!!" And when someone points out that Bush started it, they will shake their heads and say no.
Makes for an interesting summer....
This was going on long before the 911 attacks and bush.
DeletePerhaps it is because I read the classics - Asimov, Heinlein, Orwell, and Paine. Perhaps it is because I expect people to behave in their own interests instead of For the good of all and may it harm none. However I came to this point I freely give governments too much info every time. If some of my data contradicts others, well, I'm not the database admin (wicked giggle).
ReplyDeleteHide in plain sight. It works nicely.
+1
DeleteI stopped toting a cell phone in 2005 because we moved to a black spot. Since then I simply haven't bothered to get another one. This means that Big Brother doesn't ever know where I am unless I'm shopping.
DeleteI recently made a resolution to buy produce only at farmers markets, and today I decided I'm going to be doing as much shopping as possible using cash.
At this rate, one day soon I'll be writing actual letters, too....
Well, you know what they say, “Bliss is ignorance."
ReplyDeleteThe program has always violated the fourth amendment. If the government wants to search my phone, my bodily fluids for drugs, my car when I get stopped for a traffic infraction, my house or anything else, they have to get a warrant.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS REAGAN!!111!
DeleteThere is no way that would make this "palatable". It's like saying you can make a turd palatable.
ReplyDeleteIt is of course unconstitutional and therefore illegal. This is the kind of stuff the founding fathers were trying to prevent when they wrote the Constitution.
Back in the early 2000s I used to say end phone calls with "fuck you Dick- I know you are listening". Because I knew if they could be they would be. People thought I was whack.
ReplyDeleteFuck you Dick Cheeney WPE (Worst President Ever).
Before Edward Snowden, people would have thought you were crazy if you suggested that the government isn't just logging all of your phone calls and texts and emails, it's also tracking and recording your cell phone locations wherever you go, and making a note of everything you buy and every bill you pay.
DeletePeople would have said you were paranoid.
It's the US Government that is paranoid. They quietly bomb entire village populations to death and they still tell us we're the victims.
Someone is making a helluva lot of money out of all of this. THAT's the US Government priority.
Last year following a spinal fusion I was required to wear a hard shell back brace. I was going to fly to Dallas and called TSA to see if I would be required to remove it during security check. They asked if I could remove it easily and I said yes, but I would require privacy to put it back on. All I mentioned was that I was flying to Dallas........no flight # or which airport or what date. TSA said their agents could provide me the necessary privacy. When I got to the airport as I approached the first security person that looks at your boarding pass she announced that I had been "pre-cleared". I did not question this privilege and got in the short line. I did not have to remove brace or shoes. I wondered what would happen on the return flight and sure enough I was pre-cleared again.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for the privilege but still wondered how TSA did all this with just a casual call giving only my name and destination. Haven't flown since so I don't know if I am always fast tracked.
Not the Onion folks- the people that run our country.
ReplyDeleteAs explained yesterday- OOOPS! No problemo if you did the spying but then you forgot you did it! Version 2.0 of the Alberto Gonzales defense.
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/241508-spy-head-had-absolutely-forgotten-about-nsa-program
"Attorney: Spy chief had 'forgotten' about NSA program when he misled Congress
Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper wasn’t lying when he wrongly told Congress in 2013 that the government does not “wittingly” collect information about millions of Americans, according to his top lawyer.
He just forgot.
“This was not an untruth or a falsehood. This was just a mistake on his part,” Robert Litt, the general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said during a panel discussion hosted by the Advisory Committee on Transparency on Friday.
“We all make mistakes.”"
End quote begin commentary
Yup.
Mistakes:
"I didn't know it was loaded."
"I thought the safety was on."
"I only had a few beers officer."
Lies:
"After the fact, Clapper has said that his statement was the “least untruthful” possible answer, given the secrecy of the program at the time."
"I Don't Recall Remembering"
Now let's get to why if I mention the word "dinosaur" for example, to someone in a private email that all of a sudden I start getting advertising in my gmail account about anything related to dinosaurs, fossils, etc? I don't think it's Obama reading my email. The millenials have been too busy standing in lines waiting for the latest iphone or game. Too busy building the internet's largest databases of private information - like FACEBOOK for one, to pay attention at all to what we knew about 5-6 years ago. Then fame-seeking nerd twerp thief comes along - they start paying attention and suddenly he's a "hero". Well Putin's little Эдвард Вильен Сноуден can go _uck himself and stay in Russia forever for all I care. So can google, Amazon, Verizon, facebook, and all the rest who collect our information that we freely give. _uck the internet lol.
ReplyDeleteSnowden exposed more than NSA's criminal activity. He exposed how Democrats are equally as hypocritical as Republicans when it comes to justifying illegal government actions when that government is headed by a member of their own party. Because if Snowden's revelations had occurred during the Bush administration, he would have been lionized by Democratic posters. But since Snowden's actions made the Obama administration look very bad, reactions to him on the Democratic oriented forums I read has been very mixed. As long as we're willing to justify it when Democrats are doing it, we really are just as bad as Republicans.
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong. That's a common malady for those foolish enough to try and put words in my mouth, i must say.
DeleteSo Gryph, are you know walking back your declaration that Snowdon is a traitor? If not for him, this would still be going on under the radar and no court cases would be filed about it.
ReplyDeleteIMO, Snowdon is a hero. If he had stayed here to 'face the music', he would have been tucked away in some federal prison till he died. Possibly without trial.
Snowden or not, this info would have come out sooner or later. What the government has been doing has been known for years and available to the public but most people have been ignoring it. IMO Snowden saw his opportunity to get his 15 minutes. There are a lot of questions about his timeline that have never been answered. The way he went about everything is still very suspicious. He's a traitor - there was a better way to handle it all but instead he took the coward's way.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just your phone calls and texts, it's your movements: it's where you drive your car, it's every lousy bus trip you make; it's every little thing you buy: every stick of gum, every cup of coffee ... and they're telling you they have to keep you under 24-hour surveillance for your own good and you believe it.
ReplyDeleteEverybody needs to go read Animal Farm again.
I got nothing to hide, but then again, I don't chronicle every second of my life on Facebook, instagram, etc. My friend puts "alerts" on her open page. "We're going to Disneyworld for a week" My son hides his keys under the third garden gnome to the left of the front door" etc etc etc. Then she wonders why her house gets broken into without windows broken when no one's home. Safety tip of the day "STOP IT"
ReplyDeleteWhat a bunch of tin foil hat wearing folk! I really don't care if they have a record that I called my daughter or my grandkids.Now if I was calling terrorists or drug dealers or gang members,I might feel like you do.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes,Snowden,who provided intel to Russia,is a traitor to the United States of America.If you think he is a hero, I feel sorry for you.Of course if you are involved in illegal activities,you would feel that way.
I'm not too concerned that the govt knows I have a dog or that I pay my Amex bill on time, but it is arrogant of you to think that anyone who disagrees with us has something to hide.
Delete