JUDGE: NSA Program Exposed By Snowden Likely Unconsitutional

REUTERS/Thomas Peter
A woman holds a portrait of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in front of her face as she stands in front of the U.S. embassy during a protest in Berlin, July 4, 2013.
In a ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon suggested that the program, exposed by leaker Edward Snowden earlier this year, goes too far under the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. And he said that the Justice Department did not demonstrate that the program had thwarted terrorist attacks or threats.
"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 wrote in the ruling.
Leon issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the NSA from collecting metadata from the Verizon accounts of the plaintiffs in the case. But Leon granted a stay in his order to allow for a government appeal.
"The author of our constitution, James Madison … would be aghast" at the programs, Leon wrote.
Leon is an appointee of President George W. Bush. The lawsuit was brought by conservative legal activist Larry Klayman. In the past year, Klayman has sought to have President Barack Obama's name removed from Florida's presidential ballot, on the grounds that he is not a natural-born citizen. The lawsuit was thrown out. He's also the man who, during the government shutdown earlier this year, urged a "second American nonviolent revolution" against the Obama administration.
Here's the full ruling:
PM Modi shares image of tailor on the street using Paytm, calls it a common sight across India
Adani Enterprises’ ₹20,000 crore FPO fully subscribed on the last day
I was working toward a promotion at Amazon when my manager started emailing me about needing coaching. Now I'm worried about losing my job.
All major automakers except Bajaj Auto expected to register growth in January say brokerages
India's core sector output rises by 7.4 per cent in December
Indian start-ups are looking at reverse flipping says Economic Survey
This cheesecake startup refused to give up a slice of its company for a lower valuation on Shark Tank India
SC suggest Nirav Modi's bro-in-law to give letter of authority to CBI to access offshore bank accounts