The Constitutional Validity of NSA's Collection of "Metadata" from U.S. Telephone Conversations

The Columbus Lawyers Chapter

Speakers:

  • Ric Simmons, Professor, Ohio State Moritz College of Law
  • Gary Daniels, Associate Director, ACLU of Ohio

Speakers:

  • Ric Simmons, Professor, Ohio State Moritz College of Law
  • Gary Daniels, Associate Director, ACLU of Ohio

As part of his unauthorized leaks, Edward Snowden disclosed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders showing that the National Security Agency was collecting nearly all  call records or “metadata” for telephone conversations in the United States. Such “metadata” includes the telephone numbers that placed and received the call, and the date, time, and duration of the call, but not contents of the telephone conversations. Suits have been brought challenging this program, with mixed success. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction finding that the program likely violated the Fourth Amendment. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York disagreed. Appeals remain pending. 

Our speakers will debate whether the NSA’s metadata collection program comports with the Fourth Amendment. Ric Simmons, the Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer Professor for the Administration of Justice and Rule of Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, will defend the program’s constitutionality. Gary Daniels, the Associate Director of the ACLU of Ohio, will argue that the program violates the Fourth Amendment.

Cost: $20.00 ($15.00 for those who join the Columbus Lawyers Chapter for the 2013-2014 program year and $5 for students). Lunch is included.

RSVP to Eric Murphy at [email protected] or 614-961-9452.

Pay at the door or in advance by cash or by check (to “The Federalist Society,” P.O. Box 1434, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1434). To join the Columbus Lawyers Chapter, include an additional $25.00 payable to The Federalist Society.