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Surveillance Court: NSA Can Resume Bulk Surveillance
An anonymous reader writes: We all celebrated back in May when a federal court ruled the NSA's phone surveillance illegal, and again at the beginning of June, when the Patriot Act expired, ending authorization for that surveillance. Unfortunately, the NY Times now reports on a ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which concluded that the NSA may temporarily resume bulk collection of metadata about U.S. citizens's phone calls. From the article: "In a 26-page opinion (PDF) made public on Tuesday, Judge Michael W. Mosman of the surveillance court rejected the challenge by FreedomWorks, which was represented by a former Virginia attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican. And Judge Mosman said that the Second Circuit was wrong, too. 'Second Circuit rulings are not binding' on the surveillance court, he wrote, 'and this court respectfully disagrees with that court's analysis, especially in view of the intervening enactment of the U.S.A. Freedom Act.' When the Second Circuit issued its ruling that the program was illegal, it did not issue any injunction ordering the program halted, saying that it would be prudent to see what Congress did as Section 215 neared its June 1 expiration."
Who are these judges appointed to the FISA court? Is a prerequisite a hatred for America, or is this something they develop once on the bench?
They are ordinary judges that serve on a rotating basis on that court. They are selected by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The judges who preside over America's secret court
Hatred for America? How do you think that plays out between findings for gay marriage versus findings that allow continued surveillance against terrorism?
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
So are you thinking constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, a vigorous letter writing / lobbying campaign, or ... cough *armed insurrection* cough?
Is the straw that broke the camel's back for you Citizens United, Obamacare, gay marriage, NSA collecting phone records, or warm beer?
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell