American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper
| American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Full case name | American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper |
| Argued | September 2, 2014 |
| Decided | May 7, 2015 |
| Citation | 785 F.3d 787 |
| Holding | |
| Warrantless telecommunications surveillance is not permitted under the USA Patriot Act (later rectified by the USA Freedom Act). | |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Gerard E. Lynch, Robert D. Sack and Vernon S. Broderick |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Gerard E. Lynch |
| Laws applied | |
| USA Patriot Act, USA Freedom Act, Fourth Amendment | |
National Security Agency surveillance |
|---|
American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper, 785 F.3d 787 (2nd Cir., 2015), was a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its affiliate, the New York Civil Liberties Union, against the United States federal government as represented by then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. The ACLU challenged the legality and constitutionality of the National Security Agency's (NSA) bulk phone metadata collection program.
The challenge was initially rejected in District Court, but that ruling was overturned at the Circuit Court level. However, this particular ruling later became moot when the U.S. Congress clarified NSA surveillance procedures in the USA Freedom Act of 2015.