Is A Judge About To Gut NSA Surveillance?
This writer is a little skeptical, but a whole lotta folks in the Beltway and Pentagon are a little on edge awaiting a crucial court ruling:
A federal judge could grant a preliminary injunction blocking some National Security Agency surveillance programs as early as Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon will consider oral arguments for and against a broad preliminary injunction request Nov. 18 in Washington, D.C., during a hearing that pits Department of Justice lawyers against Larry Klayman, a former Reagan administration prosecutor who leads the advocacy group Freedom Watch.
Leon expressed a sense of urgency in scheduling the hearing and made comments that could be construed as favorable to opponents of NSA surveillance.
Klayman filed two class-action lawsuits in June after documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the NSA collects the phone records of millions of Americans using secret court orders and vast quantities of Web data with its PRISM program.
During an Oct. 31 status conference Leon told government lawyers: “I don’t want to hear anything about vacations, weddings, days off. Forget about it. This is a case at the pinnacle of public national interest, pinnacle. All hands 24/7. No excuses.”
