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Originally Posted by Frank Ettin
We'll need conflicting rulings from different federal circuit courts of appeal before we can expect to get to SCOTUS.
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That's what I thought. So to get a circuit split, we need to see both cases appealed, and BOTH to be either upheld or reversed by their respective courts of appeals. If one reverses but the other upholds, there's no split.
If that results in both saying the NSA is not acting lawfully, that's a good thing. If that results in both saying it's legal, that's going to make it difficult to combat the snooping ... unless (I suppose) a third circuit would see fit to enter the fray, and ignore the precedent established by the other two.
What happens if one ruling is appealed and the other is not? If one is appealed, and the ruling is upheld, we than have an appeals court ruling out of one circuit
versus a district court ruling out of another circuit. Does that in any way constitute a circuit split?