[A federal judge in Washington D.C. has ruled that the National Security Agency (NSA) spying revealed this year violated and violates the U.S. constitution. This might force some NSA programmes to be shut down.]
In Leon’s reading of the record, the government isn’t merely trying to investigate possible terrorists. It’s trying to do so as fast as it possibly can. […] “But the Government can’t cite a single instance where the bulk metadata program” actually stopped an imminent attack. […]
[T]he plaintiffs have a “substantial likelihood” of showing their privacy interests outweigh the government’s interest in collecting the bulk data. […]
[The NSA collection might violate the US constitution’s Fourth Amendment.] The public interest “weighs heavily in favor of granting an injunction” that will bar the government from collecting any metadata in association with their personal Verizon accounts.[…]
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/federal-judge-finds-nsa-spying-unconstitutional/