by Terry Allen
If ever there were a conspiracy of nine white men in a room plotting to undermine democracy, it might look something like the FISA court. This secretive group of judges is appointed by the US Chief Justice under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and meets in sealed chambers in Washington. There, in total secrecy, it hears requests by state and federal agencies to conduct electronic surveillance and clandestine physical searches when issues of"national security" are involved. Those people or groups surveilled under FISA order may never know they were targets, and need never be given access to evidence gathered against them.
This year, FISA set a new record by rubber stamping 839 applications. This topped last year's previous all-time high of 697 approvals. But the term "rubber stamp" does not sit well with FISA Judge Royce C. Lamberth: "I bristle at the suggestion in some quarters that we are a rubber stamp for the executive branch," he said sententiously. "Some applications have been revised. Some have been withdrawn and resubmitted with additional information, and the process is, in fact, working."
No arguing with that, the question is, for whom? In its 18-year history, FISA has approved virtually every one of the more than 9,600 requests from FBI, NSA, and a few agencies that had blacked-out names in records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. And this year, as usual, "No orders were entered which modified or denied the requested authority." For more information on FISA, visit:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/
http://www.privacy.org/pi/
Source: 'Covert Briefs,' CAQ, Number 61, Summer 1997
Copyright (c) 1997 Covert Action Publications. All Rights Reserved.
[posted August 10, 1997]
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