Cyrus Farivar reviews some of the big news stories in 2015 involving surveillance, and admits they went 0 for 5 last year in their predictions for what might make it to the Supreme Court:
But perhaps 2015’s most notable surveillance happenings took place in the court room. Last year, we summarized five cases and trumpeted: “If the Supreme Court tackles the NSA in 2015, it’ll be one of these five cases.” Exactly zero of the cases we profiled got anywhere close to the nine justices. In short, the rise of surveillance tech and the glacial pace of surveillance legislation proves the old adage: technology moves at a lightning pace, but the wheels of justice can turn frustratingly slowly.
Luckily, 2016 may contain a number of equally, if not more important, cases that are currently sitting at the appellate level, meaning these decisions may even file to be heard by the Supreme Court.
Read more on Ars Technica where they round up the year and describe cases in the courts, while I send Cyrus some consolation coffee at their abysmal prediction record. 