"The most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders.

"The most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders." If these were willful acts that wouldn't pass an ethics committee, I sure hope people went to jail over this instead of getting an administrative slap on the wrist. We need to have moral hazard for those at the top pyramid. We've let bankers get away with crimes, I would hope that we aren't doing the same with these people as well. However I doubt anyone ever gets prosecuted for these violations. In another case, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has authority over some NSA operations, did not learn about a new collection method until it had been in operation for many months. The court ruled it unconstitutional. Wow. Just wow. You'd imagine that they wouldn't be able to implement any system before it has been deemed Constitutional and authorized by Congress. If there is any question, then they shouldn't even begin to seriously research and implement a new technique without first getting Congressional approval.