NSA Surveillance Class Action Launched By Rand Paul

A class action lawsuit was filed today by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (son of Ron Paul) over the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance program. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and names President Obama, among other officials, as defendants.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court will be arbiter of what the Fourth Amendment means.

This isn’t the first lawsuit to challenge the NSA’s programs, which shot to public attention following leaks by former security worker Edward Snowden. This suit, though, is different – it’s the first to be filed by a member of Congress, and seeks to represent U.S. residents, who are encouraged to “join” by signing up via Rand’s website. More than 386,000 signatures had been collected by the time of the suit’s filing around 11 a.m., the Wall Street Journal reports. In a press conference held to address the lawsuit, Sen. Rand drew a line between the suit itself and the necessity of NSA programs, saying: “I’m not against the NSA, I’m not against spying, I’m not against looking at phone records. I just want you to go to a judge, have a person’s name and individualize the warrant.”

The complaint alleges that the NSA’s collection of massive amounts of data is unconstitutional and calls for the information – which includes metadata such as the length of phone calls and the location of participants – to be deleted. The complaint was filed by Ken Cuccinelli, former Attorney General of Virginia, who will also serve as lead counsel for the case.

The legality of the NSA’s vast surveillance networks remain a contentious issue, with the White House repeatedly stating that it backs the agency’s actions, while judges have proven more divided. In December, a federal judge concluded that mass surveillance such as that carried out by the NSA is likely to be unconstitutional, but others have already suggested otherwise.

The new class action lawsuit focuses heavily on Fourth Amendment rights, comparing the collection of personal data with unreasonable search and seizure of personal property. While previous lawsuits filed against the NSA have been on behalf of individual plaintiffs, Sen. Paul’s suit is being presented as a fight on behalf of all those affected by NSA programs and perceived intrusion. U.S. residents are also able to support the suit by registering via Defend The 4th, a Sen. Paul-backed site. The site encourages visitors to “defend the constitution—and our sacred liberty—by joining Senator Paul's class-action lawsuit against the NSA.” According to the Washington Post, Sen. Paul also compared the current government surveillance to “warrantless searches practiced by the British military prior to American independence.”

It’s emotive stuff, and Sen. Paul is hoping to see the suit go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Quite how successful he’ll be remains unclear – members of Congress face several hurdles in taking legal action against the government, and the NSA’s intransigence up till now has left many disheartened with government and the possibility of sizeable change. Still, who knows? The lawsuit’s been filed with much fanfare, and the sheer number of signatures gained – sure to increase even more with recent media coverage – reveal wide public backing for some type of legal action against the U.S. government’s domestic spy programs.

"Ultimately, the Supreme Court will be arbiter of what the Fourth Amendment means,” said Sen. Paul. The filing of the suit is the first step in what may be a long and difficult road to that decision.