08.07.2014 - 17:59 [ Techdirt ]

US Courts‘ Wiretap Report Shows Wiretaps Are For Drugs And Warrants Are Rejected Only .03% Of The Time

The US Courts system has just released its annual report on wiretap warrants. As you‘ll recall, warrants are those quaint permission slips that law enforcement officers occasionally seek before performing searches. (Although it looks as though they‘ll be doing it more frequently from now on…)

Not included in this report are outlying actions by agencies whose rogueness has been codified. The US Courts FAQ on the report points out that data from the FISA court is not included. Presumably, the previously illegal warrantless wiretaps deployed by the federal government aren‘t being tracked either, because if there‘s no warrant, there‘s no court. And if there‘s no court, there‘s no oversight.