Snowden campaign scores victory with US Federal judge ruling NSA metadata collection 'unconstitutional'

The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history , Edward Snowden. Screenshot: The Guardian

Snowden issued a statement early this morning which has since been published by the New York Times.

“I acted on my belief that the NSA's mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Snowden wrote.

“Today, a secret program authorised by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.”

The court ruling came after public concern over the NSA's spying program was fuelled by leaks from the former NSA contractor. He has since fled to Russia where he received temporary asylum.

In his ruling, DC District Judge Leon calls the NSA technology "almost-Orwellian."

The metadata collection "almost certainly" violates Americans' privacy", the judge said. However, he stayed the ruling pending appeal.

Judge Leon specified that the program appears to contradict the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate "a single case" where  the metadata had helped to prevent terrorist attacks.

The judge was acting on a lawsuit brought by conservative legal activist Larry Klayman and Charles Strange who had complained about "secret" NSA access to their personal phone records.

Unconstitutional activities ... A sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade. A federal judge says the NSA's bulk collection of phone records violates the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches.

The complaint questioned the “secret and illegal government scheme to intercept and analyse vast quantities of domestic telephone communications” revealed by top-secret documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on June 5.

Judge Leon has concluded the complainants were likely to prevail in their constitutional challenge. Leon ruled that the two men are likely to be able to show that their privacy interests outweigh the government's interest in collecting the data.

A spokesman for @thejusticedept says "we are reviewing the court's decision" on #NSA metadata program violating 4th Amendment.

— Carrie Johnson (@johnson_carrie) December 16, 2013

“Plaintiffs have a very significant expectation of privacy in an aggregated collection of their telephone metadata covering the last five years, and the NSA’s Bulk Telephony Metadata Program significantly intrudes on that expectation,” Judge Leon wrote in his findings.

In his a 68-page, heavily footnoted opinion, Leon concluded that the government did not cite a single instance in which the program ``actually stopped an imminent terrorist attack.''

“I have significant doubts about the efficacy of the metadata collection program as a means of conducting time-sensitive investigations in cases involving imminent threats of terrorism.

“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analysing it without judicial approval,”

Read the full finding by Judge Leon below

No reprieve ... White House press secretary Jay Carney has reiterated the position of the White House that there will be no amnesty for former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Despite the apparent vindication, the White House today declared there would be no amnesty for whistleblower Edward Snowden whose revelations led to the Federal Court Judge's decision.

Documents leaked by Snowden earlier this year revealed details of widespread secret surveillance by the NSA, igniting international furor.

"Our position has not changed on that matter at all," White House spokesman James Carney told reporters at a briefing. "Mr. Snowden has been accused of leaking classified information and he faces felony charges here in the United States. He should be returned to the United States as soon as possible, where he will be accorded full due process in our system."

If someone discloses a secret govt program that a Federal Court rules violates the Constitution, that person's a whistleblower, right?

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 16, 2013

The Guardian journalist who broke the first Snowden leaks took to Twitter to comment on the decision.

“Looks like NSA will have to change its rhetoric from ‘blessed by all 3 branches’ to ‘oops -- 2 branches,’” he tweeted.

In America, the officials who violate Constitutional rights get promotions; those who expose the violations get indictments

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 16, 2013

Rick Ledgett, who heads the NSA's task force investigating the damage from the Snowden leaks, told CBS television's "60 Minutes" program that it was worth talking about the possibility of an amnesty deal for Snowden, such is the rolling damage caused by his revelations.

He caveated his remarks on the show on Sunday, however, by saying that not all of his colleagues shared his view and that he would set a "high bar" in return for dropping criminal charges against Snowden.

Carney, however, noted that Ledgett was airing his "personal" view and the idea of amnesty for Snowden was rejected by NSA chief General Keith Alexander in the same program.

"This is analogous to a hostage-taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10 and then say 'You give me full amnesty and I'll let the other 40 go,"' Alexander told "60 Minutes."

Alexander also said an amnesty deal would set a dangerous precedent for any future leakers.

Snowden, a former intelligence contractor for the NSA, has been charged with espionage by US authorities for divulging reams of secret files in leaks to several prominent newspapers which have angered US allies and embarrassed the White House.

He says that he took the action to expose the sweeping threat to privacy of covert US intelligence data mining and telephone and Internet surveillance.