The National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Monday, in a case that appears to be destined for the Supreme Court.- Ruling in a lawsuit brought by a pair of activists, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the government’s arguments in favor of the NSA’s systematic and ongoing collection of all American’s telephone records “is based in large part on a 34-year-old Supreme Court precedent, the relevance of which has been eclipsed by technological advances and a cell-phone centric lifestyle heretofore inconceivable.” The judge barred the government from collecting the two plaintiffs’ telephone data and ordered the government to destroy any such data that it has already collected. He issued a stay on the enforcement of his ruling pending an expected appeal, but ordered the NSA to be prepared to comply immediately when the appeal is complete.



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