Court OKs One Last Month of NSA Mass Spying

A panel of federal judges decided that the National Security Agency can continue its phone-surveillance program in the period before a formal ban enacted by Congress takes effect. The decision from the Second US Court of Appeals, a small victory for the government, allows the NSA to maintain its bulk-surveillance program throughout a 180-day transition period. The transition was enacted in the USA Freedom Act, which President Barack Obama signed on June 2, 2015. The decision came in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against a group of national security officials -- including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Mike Rogers -- in an attempt to stop the bulk-surveillance program in its tracks. The case was filed June 213.

The ACLU scored a win in May when the court declared the NSA's bulk surveillance illegal, deeming the program unsanctioned by the Patriot Act. After that decision, ACLU filed for an injunction to immediately stop the spying. Oct 29's decision, however, acknowledges that although the USA Freedom Act shuts down the program in question, it expressly allows them to continue throughout the transition period, before a new, less intrusive system must be in place.