Federal Judge: NSA in Violation of Constitution's 4th Amendment

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The amendment was adopted in response to the abuse of general warrants by the British. The Crown was using the writ of assistance to indescriminantly search the homes of colonists in search of contraband being smuggled by the Americans in response to tyrannical taxes and regulations, and these illegal searches by the British Government were a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America.

The National Security Agency has become a major source of tension under President Obama's watch, and now a federal judge has ruled that the NSA's phone program violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures by the federal government.   The judge also questioned if the data collected had helped to head off terrorist attacks.

Granted, judges are not the final arbiters of the Constitution, we are - through our States.  However, sometimes the judges get it right and it needs to be mentioned.  Those pesky judges that get it right, by the way, is precisely why the Obama administration is trying to stack the courts with leftist radicals, thanks to the new anti-filibuster rule by the democrats in the U.S. Senate.

The judge stayed the order to allow for an appeal by the federal government.

Think about that for a second.  A federal court is hearing a case where the federal government is one of the parties.  Sound like a conflict?

Remember, Judicial Review is not authorized by the Constitution, the courts gave themselves that power in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case.  Through Judicial Review the federal government is deciding for itself what its own authorities are. . . yet, every once in a while, even with the rules made by them against us, they stumble upon a proper originalist interpretation of the Constitution.

Of course, they don't want to fully admit that Obama's NSA's actions are unconstitutional, so the headline reads "likely unconstitutional."

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional - Politico