U.S. court to hear arguments in warrantless NSA spying case

An undated aerial handout photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland. REUTERS/NSA/Handout via Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court will weigh a constitutional challenge on Wednesday to a warrantless government surveillance programme brought by an Oregon man found guilty of attempting to detonate a bomb in 2010 during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

The case before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first of its kind to consider whether a criminal defendant’s constitutional privacy rights are violated under a National Security Agency programme that allows spying on Americans’ international phone calls and internet communications.