Privacy Groups Launch A Legal Challenge To Stop NSA Surveillance

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole (L-R), National Security Agency (NSA) Deputy Director John Inglis, NSA Director U.S. Army General Keith Alexander, FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce and Office of the Director of National Intelligence General Counsel Robert Litt testify before a U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on recently disclosed NSA surveillance programs, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 18, 2013. Reuters

Supreme Court Asked To Stop NSA Telephone Surveillance -- CNN

Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to stop the National Security Agency's surveillance of domestic telephone communications data.

In an emergency appeal filed Monday, a privacy rights group claimed a secret federal court improperly authorized the government to collect the electronic records, and said only the justices could resolve the statutory issues at stake.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed its petition directly with the high court, bypassing the usual step of going to the lower federal courts first.

Such a move makes it much harder for the justices to intervene now, but the privacy group argues "exceptional ramifications" demand judicial review now.

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