Strange case
Philly man sues the NSA for spying on him...and wins!
That newspaper story I was working on yesterday? Only one thing is clear: That Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Strange -- a 2005 North Catholic grad who became a codebreaker working in Afghanistan -- died a hero, shot down with 29 other U.S. troops in August 2011 during a dangerous rescue mission. But the story of what happened next doesn't add up.
His father, Charles Strange, a former casino dealer, makes a compelling case that he's not getting the straight story on how his son died. Less clear are Strange's allegations that the U.S. government targeted him for spying after he started asking too many questions. But in teaming with gadfly lawyer Larry Klayman. Strange and his wife sued the National Security Administration over its collection of bulk data from his phone company, Verizon -- and remarkably he's won Round One.
The gruff-talking union guy from the Lower Northeast and his quixotic mission may shake the American national security state to its very core. Pretty amazing. The judge who ruled in Strange's lawsuit called the NSA's massive surveillance efforts "almost Orwellian."
Almost?