clearly that ended productively
It did to a large extent. The NSA was basically forced to shut down their mass phone surveillance, which was the single biggest spying operation they had on American citizens.
That's just the NSA though. They sue on behalf of tons of cases. The ACLU is kind of like the American Cancer Society, in that any sane adult should be able to see why an independent union of constitutional lawyers is a good thing to have in a democratic society. If you need further convincing, that's your own problem I guess.
