ACLU sues Obama Administration over spying
The ACLU's Statement:
Last week, The Guardian released an order issued
by the FISC that compelled a Verizon subsidiary—Verizon Business Network
Services (VBNS)—to hand over, on an “ongoing, daily basis,” details for
every phone call placed on its network for a prospective three-month
period. Collecting those details—”metadata” that reveals who people talk
to, for how long, how often, and possibly from where—allows the
government to paint an alarmingly detailed picture of Americans’ private
lives. The FISC order cited Section 215 as its legal basis, yet the
breadth of the authority it granted to the government is simply
incompatible with the text of the statute.
As an organization that advocates for and litigates to defend the
civil liberties of society’s most vulnerable, the staff at the ACLU
naturally use the phone—a lot—to talk about sensitive and confidential
topics with clients, legislators, whistleblowers, and ACLU members. And
since the ACLU is a VBNS customer, we were immediately confronted with
the harmful impact that such broad surveillance would have on our legal
and advocacy work. So we’re acting quickly to get into court to
challenge the government’s abuse of Section 215…
…With today’s lawsuit, the ACLU is now attacking Section 215 on three
legal fronts: in our ongoing FOIA litigation seeking the government’s
secret interpretation of the law; in the FISA Court through yesterday’s
public-access motion; and now, in a constitutional lawsuit in federal
court. When the government is claiming such chillingly expansive
surveillance powers, it’s all hands on deck.
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