Great news from New York:
A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it. . . .
The court, in a decision written by Judge Gerard E. Lynch, held that the Patriot Act provision, known as Section 215, “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.”
The court also refused to order an end to the program, opting instead to send it back to the lower court for further review. So they ruled but also punted. Time will tell if this is an important ruling that changes things.
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