N. Idaho Woman Sues President over Cellphone Surveillance

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho woman is suing President Barack Obama and top security officials over the National Security Administration's mass surveillance of phone records. The Spokesman-Review reports Anna Smith, represented by state Republican Rep. Luke Malek of Coeur d'Alene, filed the lawsuit in Idaho's U.S. District Court on Wednesday. Smith contends the once-secret surveillance program exceeds the government's authority and violates the First and Fourth Amendments. Smith says she uses her Verizon cellphone to communicate with her family, employer, doctor, attorney and her children's teachers, and that some of those conversations are private and confidential. She's asking a judge to declare the mass call tracking unconstitutional and to order the government to stop. The American Civil Liberties Union and others have also filed lawsuits over the phone record collection program.