The Patriot Post® · FISC Shoots Down Data Request

Update: This decision has been temporarily reversed pending other lawsuits.

The revelation of the NSA’s broad spying hasn’t stopped the Obama administration from seeking even more power. The Justice Department recently requested an extension of metadata record keeping beyond the five-year threshold currently in place. On Friday, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court denied DoD’s inquisition, saying the request didn’t involve national security concerns. According to Judge Reggie Walton, “the amended procedures would further infringe on the privacy interests of United States persons whose telephone records were acquired in vast numbers and retained by the government for five years to aid in national security investigations.” Ironically, this is the same court that allowed limitless spying and record keeping in the first place, severely trampling privacy rights. Apparently, the Constitution only matters when the government’s in damage control mode.