R.I. lawyers sue telephone companies after newspaper report

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Lawyers in Rhode Island have filed lawsuits on behalf of customers against several major telephone companies after a newspaper reported the companies gave calling records to the National Security Agency as part of an anti-terrorism surveillance program.

The class-action lawsuits filed Monday accuse Verizon Communications Inc., BellSouth Corp. and AT&T Corp. of illegally turning over to the government customers' phone and Internet records, according to The Providence Journal.

USA Today reported last week that the three companies began turning over tens of millions of phone records to the NSA after the spy agency requested the records following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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"I can understand fully what the country has gone through since 9/11, but we still have a Constitution," St. Pierre told The Providence Journal. "When have we ever authorized a full-scale fishing expedition?"