NSA Spy Program So Secret Judge Can't Explain Why It Can't Be Challenged

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/11/nsa-spy-program-so-secret-judge-cant-explain-why-it-cant-be-challenged



Consumer advocacy group which brought the case vows to 'continue to fight to end NSA mass surveillance'

NSA Spy Program So Secret Judge Can't Explain Why It Can't Be Challenged
Nadia Prupis, staff writer
Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A federal judge ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a key surveillance case on Tuesday, dismissing a challenge which claimed the government's spying operations were groundless and unconstitutional.

Filed in 2008 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the lawsuit, Jewel v. NSA, aimed to end the agency's unwarranted surveillance of U.S. citizens, which the consumer advocacy group said violated the 4th Amendment.

The lawsuit also implicated AT&T in the operations, alleging that the phone company "routed copies of Internet traffic to a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA." That charge was based off of a 2006 document leak by former AT&T technician and whistleblower Mark Klein, who disclosed a collection program between the company and the NSA that sent AT&T user metadata to the intelligence agency.

US District Judge Jeffrey White on Tuesday denied a partial summary judgment motion to the EFF and granted a cross-motion to the government, dismissing the case without a trial. In his order, White said the plaintiff, Carolyn Jewel, an AT&T customer, was unable to prove she was being targeted for surveillance—and that if she could, "any possible defenses would require impermissible disclosure of state secret information."

[newfie11]

1. Big Brother has taken over

And don't ask!!!!