A federal judge has said in his ruling that spying and collecting personal information of American citizens is completely legal and a ”counter-punch” to eliminate al-Qaeda’s terror network.
A New York federal judge has given a ruling that National Security Agency (NSA)’s PRISM surveillance and spying program is legal. The ruling is opposite to ruling that came a week ago where another federal judge had ruled the program as illegal.
A U.S. District Judge William Pauley came up with the ruling in ALCU vs. James Clapper (director of national intelligence) case where judge accepted the U.S government request to reject the case.
During his ruling, the judge said that:
- “Represents the government’s counter-punch” to eliminate al-Qaeda’s terror network by connecting fragmented and fleeting communications. “There is no evidence that the Government has used any of the bulk telephony metadata it collected for any purpose other than investigating and disrupting terrorist attacks.“
Fox News reports that Judge Pauley also dismissed the lawsuit signed by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ALCU disappointed with this decision, plans to appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jameel Jaffer who is deputy legal director at ACLU said that:
- “We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government’s surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections.”
Meanwhile the department of justice under the federal government is happy over the ruling:
- “We are pleased the court found the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata collection program to be lawful.”
Just a week ago U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, in Washington, D.C had ruled that NSA’s surveillance and spying program as illegal.
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