A Federal Appeals Court has overturned a lower court's injunction against the National Security Agency's (NSA) program to collect records on billions of telephone calls to, from, and within the United States in an effort to seek out terrorist plots.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit splintered on the rationale for its decision, but the effect of the ruling is to undo the decision a Federal District court judge issued in December 2013 holding the program likely unconstitutional.
The appeals court voted, 2-1, to allow the lawsuit to proceed in the district court, but the judges left doubts about whether the case will ever succeed on the merits. The appeals judges did not directly address the legality of the NSA program.
Congress passed a law in June ending the so-called "bulk collection" of telephone metadata. However, the program has been allowed to continue through November under a stopgap measure while the Obama Administration attempts to transition to a new system where telephone companies hold the data and investigators query it when needed.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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