Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional

Ultra-secret national security letters that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech, a federal judge in California ruled in a decision released Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing so-called NSLs across the board, in a stunning defeat for the Obama administration’s surveillance practices. She also ordered the government to cease enforcing the gag provision in any other cases. However, she stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/03/nsl-found-unconstitutional/

Thank you EFF: https://supporters.eff.org/donate/nsl
and CREDO Mobile: https://twitter.com/CREDOMobile/status/4326145876

National Security. Whenever I

National Security. Whenever I hear that word I think of Danny DeVito in Matilda. Throwing sawdust into that car to keep the engine quiet. Does the government not see the flaw in their plan. Imagine a giant safe full of secrets, everyday they keep putting more and more in. Everyone knows the safe is real, and they have some clue as to how they are being screwed, but a great number of those people are lulled by a phrase. Shhh. go back to sleep. You dont need to know. And they do just that. So what happens when they cant pile any more secrets into that safe. The doors burst open and they fall out for everyone to see. Does the NSA really think that waiting till that moment is the best time to reveal all its dirty little secrets? Maybe from their end it seems that way, most likely because they know whats coming next, and their main purpose is make sure that everything goes according to plan. It doesn't give one much faith in their understanding of what is right and what is wrong.