US courts can't seem to agree on whether the US government's mass surveillance activities are illegal or not.
One thing is certain: the White House didn't like a recent ruling by a federal judge that found the US National Security Agency's data collection programs violated the Fourth Amendment 's privacy rights.
It was first reported by Reuters that the US Justice Department filed an appeal on Friday in an attempt to overturn a ruling that found the collection of telephone metadata unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in December called the data collection an “indiscriminate and arbitrary intrusion” into Americans’ privacy.
But where things start to get complicated, revealing the different interpretation of the law and the White House’s finger, is when another judge issued a ruling in favor of the NSA’s data collection program. U.S. District Judge William Pauley said that the government’s efforts to collect all kinds of data are “an important tool” against terrorism and are within the bounds of U.S. law.
What is certain is that at some point the Supreme Court will get involved, which will have to take on the responsibility that the government does not take on, without being influenced by it. After all, for there to be a Democracy, the three branches of government (legislative, executive and judicial) must be independent... let's see.
