Appeal In EFF's Big Lawsuit Against NSA Dismissed For 'Lack Of Jurisdiction'; Heads Back To Lower Court Again

One of the big EFF lawsuits against NSA surveillance, Jewel v. NSA, which has been going for many years (since before the Snowden revelations) has just been dismissed by the 9th Circuit appeals court, for "lack of jurisdiction." The issue is really more of a procedural one, than on the substance, but it's still unfortunate. Without going into the details (you can read the full 17 page ruling if you want that), there was an effort to "expedite" (as much as you can use that word for a case that has been going on for almost a decade) a single part of the ruling, and the appeals court basically says you can't do that, and things need to wait until there's a full decision from the lower court.

We are sympathetic to the Jewel plaintiffs' desire to bring at least part of this case to a close. But awaiting a decision on a single claim, which is not a linchpin claim either factually or legally, does not advance this result. In fact, the result of this appeal has been to bring the district court proceedings to a halt. Both sides point fingers as to why no final decision has been reached. We do not take sides in that debate, except to say that the parties' and judicial resources would be better spent obtaining a final judgment on all of the claims, instead of detouring to the court of appeals for a piecemeal resolution of but one sliver of the case.

And so, we wait some more....

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