CdA woman’s lawsuit against Obama dismissed

BOISE - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Coeur d’Alene woman against President Barack Obama over NSA collection of cell phone information, while raising questions about the practice.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill, in his eight-page decision issued today, found that under current U.S. Supreme Court precedents, the NSA’s collection of cell-phone data doesn’t violate the 4th Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches. However, he also noted that another case in Washington, D.C. found otherwise, and it may yet make its way to the higher court; that ruling was stayed pending appeal.

In that decision last year, Judge Richard Leon wrote that earlier court cases were from the era before cell phones, and that “people in 2013 have an entirely different relationship with phones than they did 34 years ago.” Leon wrote, “Records that once would have revealed a few scattered tiles of information about a person now reveal an entire mosaic – a vibrant and constantly updating picture of the person’s life.” More here. Betsy Russell, SR

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