(BREAKING) Second Circuit: NSA metadata program unlawful

In the first federal appellate ruling on the issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the federal law authorizing government record collection does not cover the bulk collection of Americans' metadata. (The collection program, you'll recall, was revealed as a result of the leaks by Edward Snowden).

The ruling rests on government's lack of statutory authority under the Patriot Act (whose reauthorization is currently under debate) and therefore does not reach the plaintiffs' constitutional arguments.

The opinion in today's case, ACLU v. Clapper, is here.

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