Whose Job Description Does This Fall Under?

Ginsburg out on the town

Scalia acting like he's reading
a legal tome

On thursday night Antonin Scalia (R) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (D), two of our nine supreme court justices, were answering questions at a conference at the National Press Club. Still in the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks, the NSA is fresh in the minds of most Americans. It's very difficult to get any concrete information out of anyone regarding what is to happen next, but Ginsburg and Scalia were willing to add to the speculation.


Even the ever-conservative Scalia said that the constitutionality of the acts committed by the NSA would likely be decided by the Supreme Court. He also stated that "The institution that will decide that is the institution least qualified to decide it...." This lead me to wonder who is qualified to decide it. The NSA themselves clearly can't make this decision, that would be a conflict of interest. The president already expressed his distaste, but that isn't going to move beyond his statement. The Department of Homeland Security could take on the task, since the NSA is under the Department of Defense, but would that be wise? DHS is the lowest executive agency on the totem pole and there is a lot riding on this. Ultimately, I believe that it is smart to have the Court make a decision. They will be more likely to think of the people because they aren't experts; they can't have a bias in this situation.