‘Surveillance Capabilities’
“When do present-day circumstances — the evolution in the government’s surveillance capabilities, citizens’ phone habits, and the relationship between the NSA and telecom companies — become so thoroughly unlike those considered by the Supreme Court 34 years ago that a precedent like Smith does not apply?” Leon asked. “The answer, unfortunately for the government, is now.”
The judge said that while he accepts without question the Obama administration’s position that combating terrorism is of “paramount importance,” the government offered no explanation as to how removing the records of the two plaintiffs from the NSA’s database would damage that effort.
He also said he was “not convinced at this point in the litigation that the NSA’s database has ever truly served the purpose of rapidly identifying terrorists in time-sensitive investigations.”
The case is Klayman v. Obama, 13-cv-881, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
Article Appeared @http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-16/nsa-phone-program-probably-unconstitutional-judge-rules.html