It looks obvious

It is still long before the Patriot Act will completely reversed, but this is a very big step in the right direction:

A federal judge struck down controversial portions of the USA Patriot Act in a ruling that declared them unconstitutional yesterday, ordering the FBI to stop its wide use of a warrantless tactic for obtaining e-mail and telephone data from private companies for counterterrorism investigations.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York said the FBI’s use of secret "national security letters" to demand such data violates the First Amendment and constitutional provisions on the separation of powers, because the FBI can impose indefinite gag orders on the companies and the courts have little opportunity to review the letters.

[...]

"The risk of investing the FBI with unchecked discretion to restrict such speech is that government agents, based on their own self-certification, may limit speech that does not pose a significant threat to national security or other compelling government interest," Marrero said.

There is a lot to be said about the importance of cultural traditions and their strength compared with a written law. Yesterday ruling is a demonstration of such traditions backed by judicial tradition. I am very optimistic today about the prospect of restoring some of our civil liberties sooner than I thought.