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Eugene

(61,596 posts)
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 06:47 PM Oct 2015

ACLU lawsuit against NSA mass surveillance dropped by federal court

Source: The Guardian

A federal district court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the National Security Agency.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the surveillance program was innately harmful, despite the NSA’s silence on it in court. “The NSA’s mass surveillance violates our clients’ constitutional rights to privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of association, and it poses a grave threat to a free internet and a free society,” said Ashley Gorski, a staff attorney with the ACLU national security project. “The private communications of innocent people don’t belong in government hands.”

The judge in the case, TS Ellis III, said the suit relied on “the subjective fear of surveillance”, because the NSA did not admit to having collected any of the information it was alleged to have collected by the ACLU.

Ellis admitted that acquiring enough information to prove illegal spying was difficult whether or not illegal spying had occurred, but said that difficulty was a feature, not a bug. “Establishing standing to challenge section 702 in a civil case is plainly difficult,” he wrote. “But such difficulty comes with the territory.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/23/aclu-nsa-surveillance-lawsuit-dismissed



Sam Thielman
Friday 23 October 2015 23.09 BST
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
ACLU lawsuit against NSA mass surveillance dropped by federal court (Original Post) Eugene Oct 2015 OP
It will take Years....but, the ACLU is Persistent---and this is a test to see how KoKo Oct 2015 #1
Interesting quote here: christx30 Oct 2015 #2
The judge is an asshole, and deserves to have his identity stolen Demeter Oct 2015 #3
TS Ellis III is an authoritarian stooge blackspade Oct 2015 #4
Shame what democracy's coming to these days. Octafish Oct 2015 #5
Glad to see the ACLU is challenging these surveillance programs. JDPriestly Oct 2015 #6

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
1. It will take Years....but, the ACLU is Persistent---and this is a test to see how
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 08:59 PM
Oct 2015

the Court Ruled and what they can do to go at it from another angle....testing.

It's sad its come to this, though, isn't it?

christx30

(6,241 posts)
2. Interesting quote here:
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 09:22 PM
Oct 2015
Ellis admitted that acquiring enough information to prove illegal spying was difficult whether or not illegal spying had occurred, but said that difficulty was a feature, not a bug. “Establishing standing to challenge section 702 in a civil case is plainly difficult,” he wrote. “But such difficulty comes with the territory.”


So he's saying that unless we can get the information from a highly secretive group that apparently doesn't have to respond to discovery requests, we can't even establish standing? And it won't happen unless someone in that group illegally releases the information. And that illegal release would probably be inadmissible.
And the wheels go round and round.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
5. Shame what democracy's coming to these days.
Sat Oct 24, 2015, 12:11 AM
Oct 2015

Pretty soon most people won't remember voting and the government will know who does and have the data to show it.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
6. Glad to see the ACLU is challenging these surveillance programs.
Sat Oct 24, 2015, 03:49 AM
Oct 2015

We have a fundamental right to privacy. The government is violating that right.

Can you imagine what Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, et al. would do in this situation?

To say nothing of Tom Hancock or Thomas Paine.

What is our country about anyway?

Did someone up there in the NSA forget?

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