Judge Slaps NSA, Says Its Phone Surveillance Program Is Probably Unconstitutional

Excellent news:

A federal
judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which
collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or
within the United States is likely to be unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program
appears to violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable
searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had
failed to demonstrate that collecting the so-called metadata had
helped to head off terrorist attacks.

Acting on a lawsuit brought by conservative legal activist Larry
Klayman, Leon issued a preliminary injunction barring the NSA from
collecting metadata pertaining to the Verizon accounts of Klayman
and one of his clients. However, the judge stayed the order to
allow for an appeal.

Read the ruling
here. Read Reason‘s coverage of the NSA scandal
here.