Judge Rules

NSA Tool Likely Unconstitutional

Judge wants the program to be frozen.

A federal judge ruled the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone and Internet data is likely unconstitutional. Richard Leon wrote the program clashes with the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure. “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’” than the metadata program, Leon wrote. The ruling from the judge appointed by George W. Bush is the first legal setback for the NSA’s surveillance program since Edward Snowden revealed it in June. In a statement sent to journalist Glenn Greenwald Monday, Snowden applauded the court's ruling. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights," wrote Snowden. "It is the first of many.”