Administration looks to dodge Supreme Court challenge to NSA program

The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to throw out a legal challenge to the National Security Agency program that collects records on all US phone calls.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a petition directly to the Supreme Court in July, claiming that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court overstepped its authority when it granted the NSA permission to collect the phone records in bulk. In its petition, EPIC noted that the Patriot Act only authorizes the NSA to collect business records that are "relevant" to a terrorism investigation. By allowing the NSA to collect records on millions of Americans without any ties to terrorism, the court acted outside of its own jurisdiction, the privacy group argued. The group asked the Supreme Court to order the surveillance court to rein in the program or to hear arguments on whether the program is legal. But in its response, the Justice Department argued that the Supreme Court lacks the jurisdiction to consider EPIC's challenge.