Betsy Z. Russell reports:
Federal appeals court judges were skeptical Monday of a Coeur d’Alene woman’s arguments that cellphone surveillance by the National Security Agency violates her constitutional right to privacy.
Coeur d’Alene nurse Anna J. Smith contends that her Verizon cellphone is her primary means of communication with family, friends, her employer, her children’s teacher, her doctor, her lawyer and others, and that her communications are none of the government’s business – and have nothing to do with terrorism. U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill found that Smith had standing to sue but couldn’t prevail under current court precedents; he ruled against her in June.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sharp questions about Smith’s standing, as well as whether there was any proof the government had looked specifically at her phone records.
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