Judge eager to re-enter NSA surveillance fight
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2015/09/judge-eager-to-re-enter-nsa-surveillance-fight-213272
Warning that the constitutional rights of tens of millions of Americans are being violated, a federal judge said Wednesday that he's eager to expedite a lawsuit seeking to shut down the National Security Agency's controversial program to collect data on large volumes of U.S. telephone calls.
During an hourlong hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, Judge Richard Leon repeatedly urged the conservative lawyer who brought the suit to take steps to allow the case to move forward quickly by asking a federal appeals court to formally relinquish control over an appeal in the case.
Leon noted that the so-called bulk collection program is set to shut down on November 29 as part of a transition to a new system where queries will be sent to telephone companies rather than to a central database stored at the NSA.
"The clock is running and there isn't much time between now and November 29," Leon told conservative gadfly Larry Klayman. "This court believes there are millions and millions of Americans whose constitutional rights have been and are being violated, but the window...for action is very small....It's time to move."
Leon also told Justice Department lawyers that he was intent on moving the case forward and would not countenance any stalling aimed at preventing him from acting in the case before the program, aimed at aiding terrorism investigations, ends.
In November 2013, Leon ruled that the program involved a search and seizure that was likely unconstitutional and "almost Orwellian" in its scope. He issued an injunction against the NSA effort, but put that ban on hold so the government could appeal.
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the preliminary injunction on the grounds that Klayman and his fellow plaintiffs had not made a sufficient showing that data on their phone calls was gathered by the NSA program. However, two of the three appellate judges said Klayman's suit could proceed, allowing him an opportunity to try to gather proof that the plaintiffs were directly affected by the surveillance.
Leon made clear Wednesday that his conclusion that the program was unconstitutional has not changed. "I don't have to hear new arguments on the constitutional issue," the judge said. "It has been written. It has been written."
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