DC Federal Court to Hold Hearing 2 PM, Oct. 8 on Motion for Preliminary Injunction in NSA Surveillance Case; Press Conference to Follow on Courthouse Steps

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch announced today that the federal court in Washington DC will hold a hearing at 2:00 P.M. on October 8, 2015, on a motion for a preliminary injunction in the landmark case that resulted previously in a preliminary injunction to stop the unconstitutional surveillance of nearly all Americans, as disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.  (Case Nos. 13-cv-851 and 13-cv-881.)

In this regard on December 16, 2013, the Honorable Richard Leon found that the NSA and other government defendants, including President Barack Obama, had engaged in unconstitutional surveillance through their indiscriminate access to telephonic metadata. To allow the government defendants to proceed with their appeal, he stayed the preliminary injunction, but anticipated that the appeal would be quickly decided. However, the government defendants then delayed adjudication with various tactics and the federal appeals court itself dithered for nearly two years. In the last weeks, however, it ruled and sent the case back to Judge Leon to gather further evidence. The federal appeals court did not however overturn Judge Leon's ruling that the surveillance violated the 4^th Amendment of the Constitution.

In a recent status conference, Judge Leon expressed his intention to move quickly to obtain the new evidence and likely enter a new preliminary injunction, as one day of a violation of the Constitution is one day too much. (See http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/09/02/judge-says-nsa-program-is-unconstitutional-its-time-to-move). He suggested amending the original complaint and within days the plaintiffs, including Klayman, did so. Now he is holding this new hearing to decide how to move forward.

Judge Leon previously ruled this unconstitutional surveillance to be "almost Orwellian."

Klayman had this to say: "We are thankful that this courageous judge is protecting the American people. If judges like Leon, and they are regrettably very few these days, will not step in against the abuses of our political elite, then we are all left defenseless during this age of rampant illegality by the establishment."

For more information, contact [email protected] or (424) 274 2579.
Media contact: Adrienne Mazzone 561-750-9800 x2270; [email protected]

SOURCE Larry Klayman/Freedom Watch