Interesting post. Thx.

The Ninth is the most liberal circuit court (and the least capable, since it's the circuit court whose decisions are most often overturned) so there's some chance for the plaintiff. However, the arguments had better be overwhelmingly strong if a win at the Sipreme Court level can be hoped for. The current bench there (other than the Obama appointees who are quota filling ideological jokes) will respect carefully and well argued precedent and legal principles. Whatever they think of the ideological effect of teir decision.



Pesonally, I hope the plaintiff does win at the Supreme Court. The idea that vague notions of national security which never have to be proven valid trump specific civil rights is terrifying for the future of this country.

@4

I'm far likelier to be hit by lightning or (were I to waste money on such things) win the lottery than to be killed by terrorists. This is true now and was before massive federal violations of civil rights at massive expense. The TSA fails its own internal testing of contraband items passing through security screening around half the time.

Were I locked into a cell 24 hours a day I suppose I'd be safe. But who the hell wants safety at that price?

I'm inclined to agree that if you tell your phone company who you're calling there's no expectation of privacy. Now, the actual contents of the call are a different story, but the metadata of "X number made call to Y number at Z time" isn't the customer's private interest.

@3: So, what makes you say that Justices Sotomayor and Kagan aren't suitable candidates for the Supreme Court? Hint: some schmo not agreeing with their viewpoints doesn't make them not qualified. Let's see...

Justice Kagan graduated magna cum laude with her J.D. from Harvard, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, taught law at both the University of Chicago and Harvard University (two of THE BEST institutes of higher education in the world), became Dean of Harvard Law School (where she worked to hire conservative scholars as well as liberal ones), and served as Solicitor General before being nominated to the SCOTUS.

Justice Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Yale with a J.D., served as an assistant DA in New York, advocated for independent candidate participation and stronger enforcement of campaign regulations, served as a district judge and later as a court of appeals judge where she earned a reputation as a hard-hitting centrist.

So tell me, what is wrong with either of their basic credentials? Remember, you STILL have no explanation for your threat to deliberately run over protesters who happen to block traffic.

@4: Have you considered the possibility that the risk of dying to a terrorist attack in this country is so low PRECISELY BECAUSE we have a working intelligence agency and decent law enforcement? Just saying.
Also, [citation needed] on the TSA claim. Post your numbers, open the door get on the floor everybody walk the dinosaur.