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ACLU Suing Obama Administration Over Phone Records Gathering

ACLU Sues Obama
By 

Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post

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The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Obama administration, challenging the constitutionality of the phone surveillance program revealed by The Guardian.

The suit alleges that the program violates the First and Fourth amendments.

The suit takes issue with the so-called metadata that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court compelled Verizon Wireless to hand over to the National Security Agency under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

"The practice is akin to snatching every American’s address book—with annotations detailing whom we spoke to, when we talked, for how long, and from where," said the ACLU in the complaint. "It gives the government a comprehensive record of our associations and public movements, revealing a wealth of detail about our familial, political, professional, religious, and intimate associations."

The organization challenged the constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act in 2008, and the Supreme Court dismissed it by a 5-4 vote.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

Read the full complaint:

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Before You Go

Politicians React To NSA Collecting Phone Records
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)(01 of07)
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the court order for telephone records was part of a three-month renewal of an ongoing practice, the Associated Press reported."It’s called protecting America," Feinstein said at a Capitol Hill news conference. (credit:AP)
Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.)(02 of07)
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Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) said "the administration owes the American public an explanation of what authorities it thinks it has." (credit:AP)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)(03 of07)
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) thought everyone "should just calm down.""Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand this isn't anything that's brand new," Reid said. (credit:Getty Images)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)(04 of07)
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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a statement:"This type of secret bulk data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans’ privacy." (credit:AP)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)(05 of07)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was "glad" the NSA was collecting phone records. "I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States," Graham said in an interview on "Fox and Friends." (credit:AP)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)(06 of07)
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Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) also claimed that reports of the NSA collecting phone records was "nothing particularly new.""Every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this," Chambliss said. "And to my knowledge we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint relative to the gathering of this information." (credit:AP)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)(07 of07)
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Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) found the NSA collecting phone records "troubling.""The fact that all of our calls are being gathered in that way -- ordinary citizens throughout America -- to me is troubling and there may be some explanation, but certainly we all as citizens are owed that, and we're going to be demanding that," Corker said. (credit:AP)
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