Federal judge: The NSA’s phone metadata program is constitutional

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Hot Air

Allahpundit

12/27/13

 

Eleven days ago, a federal judge in D.C. said the program violates the Fourth Amendment. Today, another federal judge in New York said it doesnt. If each of those rulings is upheld on appeal, a Supreme Court hearing to settle the circuit split is a fait accompli. Cant wait to see how the politics of that shakes out during the 2015 primaries. Does Hillary attack the program to pander to liberals or defend it to signal that shell be tough on terror? Does Ted Cruz use it as a wedge against Rand Paul by cautiously embracing it or does he lower the boom to try to impress more libertarian-flavored tea partiers?

 

Fun fact: Richard Leon, the D.C. judge who declared the program unconstitutional, was appointed by George W. Bush (and nominated the day before 9/11). William Pauley, the New York judge who upheld the program, was appointed by Clinton.

 

In a 54-page decision, Pauley said the program vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States.

 

But he said the programs constitutionality is ultimately a question of reasonableness, and that there was no evidence that the government had used bulk telephony metadata for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.

 

Technology allowed al Qaeda to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely, Pauley wrote. The bulk telephony metadata collection program represents the governments counter-punch.

(Snip)