Blumenthal Statement on Second Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling that NSA Bulk Data Collection is Illegal

(Washington, DC) - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued the following statement on this morning’s unanimous ruling by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk data collection is illegal.

“This authoritative ruling shows that the FISA Court got it wrong – permitting unauthorized and un-American intrusion – and will continue to get it wrong, and endanger basic rights, unless it is reformed. The current FISA system itself is broken – requiring systemic reforms, like an advocate for Constitutional protections that would save the FISA Court from such errors. Courts always do better when they hear both sides, as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals did here in striking down the FISA Court's illegal practice. This ruling should empower and embolden reform.”

In 2013, Blumenthal introduced major legislation to reform the FISA Courts and ensure the FISA Court properly balances the need to protect national security with constitutional and statutory requirements to safeguard individual rights to privacy and liberty. The FISA Court Reform Act of 2013 called for creating a Special Advocate with the power to argue in the FISA courts on behalf of the right to privacy and other individual rights of the American people. A version of the Special Advocate proposal was incorporated into the USA Freedom Act.