If you actually read the document linked, you will discover that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did not end, or even rule on, a discussion of the legality of

If you actually read the document linked, you will discover that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did not end, or even rule on, a discussion of the legality of the NSA driven security-state. The case deals with the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation attempts to recover damages and legal fees in respect to the Governments wiretapping of that organization. What the judge found is that: "The threshold issue in this appeal is whether the district court erred in predicating the United States’ liability for money damages on an implied waiver of sovereign immunity under § 1810. It is well understood that any waiver of sovereign immunity must be unequivocally expressed. Section 1810 does not include an explicit waiver of immunity, nor is it appropriate to imply such a waiver. Consequently, we reverse the district court’s judgment awarding damages and attorney’s fees to Al-Haramain under § 1810." Al-Haramain failed to recovery money. In my reading of the decision, it will not have significant impact on other legal challenges to FISA, The USA PATRIOT Act, or the 2008 FISA Amendments Act. The fact that latter gives retroactive immunity to everyone and their (big) brother is a real problem, however.