For the first time, a court hearing has upheld one of the Bush administration’s programs of unwarranted surveillance.
On Thursday, the court voted in favor of the Protect America Act of 2007, which requires telecommunications providers to aide the government for purposes related to national security in intercepting international phone calls and emails.
The decision making involved mustering up foreign intelligence and it was made back in August. However, they released it just last Thursday after editing out any classified information. The challenger in the case was an anonymous telecommunications company.
The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review stated that it would take too long to obtain the proper warrants in case of a national emergency, which would impede the government’s ability to gain time-sensitive information.