Unitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillanceselfnews Post The First Amendment protects the freedom to associate and express political views as a group, but the NSAs mass, untargeted collection of Americans phone records violates that right by giving the government a dramatically detailed picture into our associational ties, said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. Who we call, how often we call them, and how long we speak shows the government what groups we belong to or associate with, which political issues concern us, and our religious affiliation. Exposing this information especially in a massive, untargeted way over a long period of time violates the Constitution and the basic First Amendment tests that have been in place for over 50 years. At the heart of First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA is the bulk telephone records collection program that was confirmed by last months publication of an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). In addition to the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, the full list of plaintiffs in this case includes the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Calguns Foundation, Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, People for the American Way, and TechFreedom. EFF also represents the plaintiffs in Jewel v. NSA, a class action case filed on behalf of individuals in 2008 aimed at ending the NSAs dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans. Last week, a federal court judge rejected the U.S. governments latest attempt to dismiss the case, allowing the allegations at the heart of the suit to move forward under the supervision of a public federal court. For the full complaint in First Unitarian v. NSA: Contacts: Dave Maass 