FINANCIAL TIMES: A federal judge has ruled that the National Security Agency’s contentious surveillance programme is lawful, handing a legal victory to President Barack Obama and a defeat to civil liberties campaigners challenging the scheme.
Friday’s ruling sharply conflicts with one handed down last week in a separate federal case, raising the odds of the US Supreme Court weighing the lawfulness of the NSA programme in what would mark a defining ruling for the future of America’s intelligence collection practices…
[Judge William] Pauley found “no evidence” that the NSA was using its collection of telephone records for “any purpose other than investigating and disrupting terrorist attacks”… (more)