Amended Memorandum Opinion and Primary Order

On 9/17/2013, the FISA court released a surprisingly unconvincing opinion in regards to the NSA’s sweeping collection of American’s telephone communications data, pursuant to sec. 215 of the 2008 FISA amendments.

In a 29-page opinion that quoted the N.S.A. director, Keith Alexander, as saying the leaks had caused “significant and irreversible damage” to national security, Judge Claire V. Eagan, a federal judge in the Northern District of Oklahoma, declared that the program was lawful and within the boundaries set up.