ACLU Comment on NSA Request to Keep Phone-Records Program Alive

The government yesterday evening filed its response to the ACLU’s request for a halt of the NSA’s phone-records program, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has already held to be illegal.

The government argues that the USA Freedom Act, which Congress enacted in June, permitted it to revive the surveillance for an additional six months. The ACLU argues that the legislation was meant to end the program, not revive it, and that the program is unconstitutional even if Congress has authorized it.

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU:

“We strongly disagree with the government’s claim that recent reform legislation was meant to give the NSA’s phone-records dragnet a new lease on life. The appeals court should order the NSA to end this surveillance now. It’s unlawful and it’s an entirely unnecessary intrusion into the privacy of millions of people.”

For the government’s response to the ACLU’s preliminary injunction motion:
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/aclu-v-clapper-government-response-pi-motion