Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia responded to student questions with a cryptic answer with possible implications about the NSA’s domestic surveillance programs on Friday night.
During a Q & A session curated by Brooklyn Law School’s Judge Andrew Napolitano, who began a discussion about the NSA’s controversial surveillance of Americans, Just Scalia said the issue would likely come before the high court, Business Insider reported.
If the issue were to come before the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia hinted he would rule that the Fourth Amendment doesn’t protect “conversations” that the government might listen to because the Fourth Amendment prohibits the government from searching your “persons, houses, papers, and effects” without a warrant, not “conversations.”
In response, one student asked whether data in a computer could be considered “effects” under the Fourth Amendment. This interpretation would then prohibit the NSA from investigating Internet communications.
Mr. Scalia was visibly pleased by the questions and remarked that he “better not answer that,” adding, “That is something that may well come up [before the Supreme Court],” Business Insider reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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