Ultra-secret national security letters that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech, a federal judge in California ruled in a decision released Friday.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing so-called NSLs across the board, in a stunning defeat for the Obama administration’s surveillance practices. She also ordered the government to cease enforcing the gag provision in any other cases. However, she stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
(via Wired.com)
The judge is obviously right, but I wouldn’t bet money on this ruling surviving on appeal. The Ninth Circuit might go along, but not the Supremes, unless their Obama hatred gets the better of them. Sometimes good things happen for bad reasons.
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