Since your theories appear to be non-falsifiable there's not much more to be said.

The situation with judges reminds me of a line from Babylon 5 by G'kar: "No one here is exactly what he appears."

And if he wasn't eager that would be proof he was intimidated. Hmmm. I understand where you are coming from now.

He certainly didn't have any Bill of Rights holding him back. What the Gestapo lacked was the technology to do the kind of surveillance they could today.

The question then is how large the Nazi state could have made its security agencies without running into the law of diminishing returns (because some of those recruited would turn out to be, or become, double agents). Certainly, East Germany's Stasi was much larger (per capita), and it had a huge problem with double agents.

How many 'Judges' have to do this before it gets done? Any Judge can rule anyway he wants but still nobody listens and the beat goes on unencumbered
.

Looking at the bigger picture for a moment; How in the world did the NSA garner such power in the first place? I think that those in the NSA as well as every bureau, no longer understand in the least what freedom is and what it means. If this is the case and I suspect it is, there is no hope for justice in the USA in the long run.

I don't have any examples of a judge being in fear of retribution, but if it happened, you wouldn't hear about it either.

When I see a judge eager to take on a case, that is a problem. Judges are supposed to be impartial arbiters.

Judge Leon certainly doesn't think that. And he's the guy the article is about! As for the NSA, please cite one instance of a federal judge saying he or she is afraid of retribution from the NSA.

The world of Floyd Ferrises uses NSA-obtained data to try to make everyone acquiesce.

The important thing about judges not being able to read is that they think that the Patriot Act supercedes the Constitution.

He didn't have to but if he didn't the Court of Appeals could and probably would have done so. He obviously wants the mandate to issue pronto so he can strike down the law again before it expires. Sure doesn't sound like a judge who is afraid to me. And what is it exactly that the NSA could do to him?

The NSA could make the judge's life very complicated. With regard to Judge Leon in particular, he didn't have to put a stop on his own injunction so that the government could appeal... or maybe he did.

I'm not sure I understand these comments. Judge Leon seems able to read and is certainly independent. And does anyone think he is afraid of the NSA because of some "power" they have over him?

Another thought. I doubt this country would have ever split from Britain's control and started as the USA if Britain had the powers the NSA has now. Would there have been ANY Jews left if HIlter had the NSA powers then?

My thought is that the real purpose of the NSA is to protect the government from its own citizens. Obviously it didnt stop 911 or countless cyber crimes, in spite of its great powers. Thank god for Snowden exposing what they are up to.

I have long heard the expression "the independence of the judiciary". They aren't independent anymore. Nice observation, k.

The very agencies they seek to bring to justice have tremendous power over their lives

Have judges ... blanked out?

It is amazing the number of federal judges that are incapable of reading.