Author: Freedom Watch
(Washington, D.C., November 20, 2015). Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an emergency petition for en banc full court review of a decision by a three judge panel earlier this week staying the implementation of a lower court ruling by the Honorable Richard J. Leon that the NSA’s mass surveillance of the telephone metadata of nearly all Americans is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. Judge Leon’s grant of a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs on November 9, 2015, in a case styled Klayman et. al v. Obama et. al (DC Circuit Case No. 15-5307)…
By Jody Godoy Law360, New York (November 19, 2015, 8:49 PM ET) – A lawyer and his firm fighting to have their information erased from the National Security Agency’s mass phone data collection program asked the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday for an emergency en banc rehearing of an order staying the case, suggesting the judges involved were swayed by the Paris attacks. A three-judge panel for the court granted a stay of an order compelling the government to delete the information on Monday, just weeks ahead of a deadline for terminating the program. Attorney J.J. Little and J.J. Little &…
By Jody Godoy Law360, New York (November 17, 2015, 1:45 PM ET) – The U.S. government successfully parried a federal court order on Monday that would have required it to shut down its mass telephone record collection program just weeks before a law passed this summer requires the National Security Agency to replace the program with a more targeted regime. The D.C. Circuit froze U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon’s order that would have pulled the plug on the government’s bulk collection of call records to give the government a shot at appeal – an appeal that is unlikely to…
(Washington, D.C., November 16, 2015). Just minutes ago, in the wake of the the Paris terrorist attacks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction order of Judge Richard J. Leon on November 9, 2015, pending appeal. This is the second time that this federal appeals court stayed Judge Leon’s orders finding that the Obama and his National Security Agency had violated the Fourth Amendment constitutional rights of millions of Americans, and in the judge’s latest order, the plaintiffs J.J. Little and J.J. Little & Associates. Larry Klayman, the lead plaintiff (Klayman v.…
(Washington, D.C., November 12, 2015). Today, Larry Klayman, founder of Freedom Watch and before that Judicial Watch, and a former federal prosecutor, announced that his client, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, had filed a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had upheld a lower court ruling by an Obama-appointed judge to dismiss Arpaio’s challenge to President Obama’s executive amnesty for over 5 million illegal aliens, on the grounds that Arpaio lacked standing (14-cv-01966). However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently ruled the…
By Jacob Fischler Law360, Washington (November 9, 2015, 12:25 PM ET) – A D.C. federal judge on Monday ordered the National Security Agency to cease its bulk telephony metadata program – 20 days before the program was set to expire anyway under the USA Freedom Act – saying the practice likely violated the Fourth Amendment. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon issued a preliminary injunction against the NSA on behalf of a law firm that subscribes to Verizon Wireless Business Network, the only wireless company the government has explicitly acknowledged participated in the controversial phone data collection program. Despite government…
(Washington, D.C., November 9, 2015) Today, Larry Klayman, founder, chairman and general counsel of Freedom Watch and also a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor, announced today that the Honorable Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted his motion for preliminary injunction for J.J. Little and his law firm, J.J. Little & Associates, PC., but at the same time set precedent for all Americans whose phones have been illegally and unconstitutionally surveilled. Klayman et. al v. Obama, Civil Action No. 13-851 (RJL) Memorandum Opinion (Dkt.#149) of November 9, 2015. “This is one of…
By Jenna Ebersole Law360, Washington (October 30, 2015, 6:54 PM ET) – A lawyer fighting to stop the NSA’s bulk data collection program before its November expiration urged a D.C. federal judge on Thursday to temporarily halt the program and ignore a contradicting Second Circuit ruling, arguing the decision does not change the fact that without action, the program will continue to violate the Constitution. Although the Second Circuit recently rejected a similar request to halt the controversial surveillance program, that ruling ignored the constitutional issues at the heart of the data collection and the underlying legislation justifying it, and…
By Jimmy Hoover Law360, Washington (October 8, 2015, 7:27 PM ET) – A D.C. federal judge cast doubt Thursday on allowing the National Security Agency to continue its bulk data collection program ahead of its expiration date, noting that he has already said the activities may be unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon revealed his skepticism during arguments in a preliminary injunction hearing from lead plaintiff Larry Klayman, who has in effect challenged the provision of the USA Freedom Act extending collection activities supposedly authorized under its predecessor, the Patriot Act, until Nov. 29, when the agency is ordered to…
Date: October 8, 2015 (2:00 P.M.) Place: DC Federal Court 3rd and Constitution Avenues, N.W. Before Judge Richard Leon, Courtroom 18 PRESS CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW ON COURTHOUSE STEPS (Washington, D.C., October 7, 2015). Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch announced today that the federal court in Washington DC will hold a hearing at 2:00 P.M. on October 8, 2015, on a motion for a preliminary injunction in the landmark case that resulted previously in a preliminary injunction to stop the unconstitutional surveillance of nearly all Americans, as disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. (Case Nos. 13-cv-851…