SurveillanceJudge rules NSA’s collection of telephony metadata is legal
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the collection of large amounts of phone metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA) is legal. The decision by Judge William H. Pauley III in New York adds yet another legal interpretation to an increasingly contentious debate over the legality of the NSA collection programs. In just eleven days, two judges and a presidential review panel reached significantly different conclusions about key issues related to the NSA surveillance program, among them the intelligence value of the data the program collects, the privacy interests – and expectations — at stake, and the constitutionality of the program in its present form.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the collection of large amounts of phone metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA) is legal. The decision by Judge William H. Pauley III in New York adds yet another legal interpretation to an increasingly contentious debate over the legality of the NSA collection programs.
The New York Times notes that in just eleven days, two judges and a presidential review panel reached significantly different conclusions about key issues, among them the intelligence value of the data the program collects, the privacy interests – and expectations — at stake, and the constitutionality of the program in its present form.
Judge Pauley’s decision is the mirror image of a decision issued on 16 December by Judge Richard J. Leon in Washington, D.C., who ruled that the program was “almost Orwellian” and probably unconstitutional (see “Federal judge: NSA’s collection program violates Constitution,” HSNW, 17 December 2013).
The decision on Friday “is the exact opposite of Judge Leon’s in every way, substantively and rhetorically,” Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University, told the Times. “It’s matter and antimatter.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which brought the case in New York, said it would appeal.
“We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government’s surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections,” said Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer with the group.
A spokesman for the Justice Department said, “We are pleased the court found the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata collection program to be lawful.”
If the appeals in New York and Washington, D.C. result in a similar split as the original rulings, the case will likely be taken by the Supreme Court.
A third interpretation of the legality and effectiveness of the NSA program was offered 18 December in the recommendations of the presidential review group (see “Review panel calls for prohibiting NSA bulk collection of phone metadata,” HSNW, 19 December 2013).
The first stark disagreement between Judges Pauley and Leon was their assessment of value of the program. Judge Pauley accepted the assertions made by senior government officials and congressional leaders that the program might have nabbed the 9/11 terrorists had it been in place at the time.
