It took an accidental disclosure by the government, but on March 31 the U.S. District

Court in San Francisco ruled that the National Security Agency's warrantless

spying program was illegal, characterizing expansive use of "state-secrets" privilege

as overreaching and potentially abusive.

Photo by Jonathan Payne

"Judge Walker is saying that FISA and federal statutes like it are not optional... The president, just like any other citizen of the United States, is bound by the law." - attorney and Hastings College of Law professor Jon Eisenberg

Al Haramain v. Obama