Wow, big news! This is just hitting the web...expect the MSM to weigh in soon. The real question is: will it change anything? Stay tuned.

HUGE!!

It is huge! CNN has a little more with a link to the complete ruling (PDF). The judge wrote;

The defendants "are permanently enjoined from directly or indirectly utilizing the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) in any way, including, but not limited to, conducting warrantless wiretaps of telephone and Internet communications, in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Title III"

The ruling could not be any clearer. Call me jaded, but I am not at all confident yet that the White House won't find a way to continue to circumvent the law. We'll see.

The NY Times lays out the most likely next step by the White House:

[Ann] Beeson predicted the government would appeal the ruling and request that the order to halt the program be postponed while the case makes its way through the system. She said the ACLU had not yet decided whether it would oppose such a postponement.

No Hereditary King! (In the ruling.) Apparently Bush's time at the helm will soon be over.

Yea, but will the government get to keep all the conversations they've already recorded? And how could citizens know with certainty the data will truly be destroyed?

I doubt any information ever gets thrown away once the government has it in its grasp.

BUT, it is possible some terrorist activity could be gleaned from this data. I just wish the president would have asked first. What a shame.