The following is extracted from the Libertarian party website (www.lp.org). the initial post author is credited below.
Non-terror-related wiretaps on the rise
The use of court-authorized secret wiretaps skyrocketed in 2004, as state and federal judges approved every single law enforcement request for permission to listen in on private electronic communications.
In all, 1,710 applications for wiretaps were approved, an increase of 19 percent from the prior year. This number does not include court-ordered wiretaps for terrorism-related investigations. Those taps are handled under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and accounted for a record 1,754 in 2004.
Looking only at the non-terror-related wiretaps, federally approved taps increased by 26 percent in 2004 (to 730) and state-approved wiretaps increased by 13 percent, to 980.
Interestingly, three-quarters of the wiretaps were approved in four states -- New York, California, New Jersey and Florida -- according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which recently reported the year's figures to Congress.
Is it reasonable to believe that every single one of the requested non-terrorism-related wiretaps was actually warranted, no pun intended?
Or is it, rather, safe to assume that forcing law enforcement to "request" a warrant to install wiretaps is a mere symbolic gesture -- given that judges are obviously willing to simply take the law enforcement agencies at their word when they say the wiretaps are necessary, legitimate and appropriate?
Posted by Daniel Cloud at April 29, 2005 03:18 PM