

NSA mass collection of phone data is legal, federal judge rules - malditojavi
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/27/judge-rules-nsa-phone-data-collection-legal

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javajosh
Got this from the WSJ[1]. Here was the key part of Judge Pauley's decision:

"No doubt, the bulk telephony metadata collection program vacuums up
information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the
United States. That is by design, as it allows the NSA to detect relationships
so attenuated and ephemeral they would otherwise escape notice," he wrote. "
_As the September 11th attacks demonstrate, the cost of missing such a thread
can be horrific._ " [emphasis added]

There is no proof that such surveillance would have prevented 9/11\. As has
been noted ad infinitum (but perhaps not often enough for Pauley) the 9/11
hijackers were already under FBI surveillance, and had been for some time
prior to the attacks. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that increasing
surveillance would have prevented 9/11.

Even if we assume that vastly increased surveillance would have prevented
9/11, I fail to see how that is relevant to judging the constitutionality of
the program. Cases are routinely thrown out of court because evidence was
obtained illegally, the judges in those cases don't say, "Well, the evidence
obtained can be used to keep a violent criminal off the street, so it's okay."

One of the most important services our government is tasked with providing is
the fair application of law, and the dispensation of "blind" justice. It's
remarkable, and deeply troubling, that Judge Pauley has used this kind of
reasoning to rule in this case. He has undermined the legitimacy of his office
by doing so.

[1]
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230448380...](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304483804579284373529865520)

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officialjunk
:|

