At least 5 federal court cases filed challenging NSA program constitutionality thanks 2 Snowden docs

[Catherina]

Snowden’s surveillance leaks open way for challenges to programs’ constitutionality


By Jerry Markon, Monday, July 15, 12:17 PM E-mail the writer

The recent disclosure of U.S. surveillance methods is providing opponents of classified programs with new openings to challenge their constitutionality, according to civil libertarians and some legal experts.

...

Such cases face formidable obstacles. The government tends to fiercely resist them on national security grounds, and the surveillance is so secret that it’s hard to prove who was targeted. Nearly all of the roughly 70 suits filed after the George W. Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping was disclosed in 2005 have been dismissed.

But the legal landscape may be shifting, lawyers say, because the revelations by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor and the principal source of the leaks, forced the government to acknowledge the programs and discuss them. That, they say, could help plaintiffs overcome government arguments that they lack the legal standing to sue or that cases should be thrown out because the programs are state secrets. A federal judge in California last week rejected the government’s argument that an earlier lawsuit over NSA surveillance should be dismissed on secrecy grounds.

“There is one critical difference from the Bush era. We now have indisputable physical evidence that the conduct being challenged is actually taking place,’’ said Stephen Vladeck, an expert on national security law at American University law school. He said Snowden’s disclosures make it “more likely” that cases will at least be allowed to go forward in court, leading to a years-long legal battle over surveillance and privacy.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/snowdens-surveillance-leaks-provide-openings-for-opponents-legal-challenges/2013/07/15/481c35b2-eb25-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html

[Jackpine Radical]

1. And THAT is what makes Snowden a traitor.

He's making it very difficult for the Surveillance State to do its job efficiently.

How can you run a secret totalitarian regime when everybody and his German uncle knows all about what's going on?

Hang the little bastard, I say.

[hootinholler]

8. HELL YEAH!!!

Let's go get that twerp! The nerve of him. I hear he plans to kill some agents and eat their livers.

Bastid..

[indepat]

10. And gizzards for good measure

[DirkGently]

11. It's so hard to screw people when they're

... watching you.

[JaneyVee]

2. He should have brought this to the attention of senators instead of running

He may or may not have had whistleblower protections but he may have also been able to remain anonymous and not charged at all. He would have the backing of at least 40 senators at this point and not have to run.

[allin99]

3. he would have been caught even if he had tried to remain anon. They would have...

used every tool they had to catch him, and we barely even know what those are.

[Cleita]

5. Read this post by DUer KoKo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023263295

I think it explains why that wouldn't work today.

[BlueStreak]

6. He should have put something in the suggestion box at the NSA.

As in,

"Hey, I was thinking, guys, what if we didn't spy on every damn American? Wouldn't that save the country a lot of money and time? Of course none of us would have jobs then, so maybe it's a bad idea. I don't know. Just a thought. Do with it what you think is best."

[DirkGently]

7. Thomas Drake tried that.

They ignored him, before he went to the papers. Then the FBI kicked down his door, ransacked his house, and tried to imprison him for life. Then they dropped all the charges because they were bullshit.

[hootinholler]

9. Because that plan worked so well for the last like 10 whistleblowers

[reusrename]

13. Wouldn't that make the senator a traitor?

I honestly don't understand this theory. Senators are not exempt from the espionage laws.

Of course there was no espionage here, but I'm wondering why a senator exposing this stuff would be different in your opinion.

I keep hearing this same talking point and I don't understand it.

[allin99]

4. wow, you mean the gov't might actually have to answer for thier infringements on people's privacy?..

well fancy that.

[Maedhros]

12. IT DOES NOT MATTER if what Snowden did was proper, improper, legal or illegal.

Because of the information he released, plaintiffs now have standing to bring their cases to the court.

And that is a good thing - despite any negative consequences caused by the leaks.

[AzDar]

14. K & R