Federal Judge Upholds NSA Metadata-Gathering Program

On December 16 Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia district issued his decision in the case of Klayman v. Obama striking down the NSA telephone metadata surveillance program as unconstitutional -- a violation of the Fourth Amendment. My analysis of that decision may be viewed here. Today Judge William H. Pauley III of the Southern District of New York issued his decision in the case of ACLU v. Clapper. Judge Pauley came to the opposite conclusion and upheld the constitutionality of the data-gathering program.

Klayman v. Obama, the NSA Surveillance Case: Is the "Third Party" Doctrine Still Alive? Or Is the Gathering of Information by Businesses Now Considered "State Action"?

In an opinion released Monday, Judge Richard J. Leon, a federal judge for the District of Columbia, struck down the NSA surveillance program as unconstitutional. The principal question is, "How shall we reconcile the Third Party Doctrine with the State Action Doctrine?"