Lawsuit Against Feds for Warrantless Wiretapping Wins in Appeals Court

An appeals court has ruled in favor of a man who is suing the federal government for illegally monitoring his and other people's communications.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit by Pittsburgh attorney Elliott Schuchardt, who is listed in the court filing as being from Winchester, Va., according to the court filing.

It wasn't all good news for Schuchardt: the ruling limits his ability to subpoena evidence and depose witnesses, so anything the federal government can claim as classified can be exempted -- and the U.S. government is likely to do that a lot.

Schuchardt was skeptical of his chances with that stipulation, and is considering appealing to the Supreme Court, according to a TribLive report. The attorney filed his suit in June 2014, naming the president as well as the heads of various agencies such as the National Security Agency and FBI, claiming that their warrantless wiretapping must have included his personal communications -- an allegation the 3rd Circuit agreed with in their ruling.

Image via Shutterstock