General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Snowden saw what I saw: surveillance criminally subverting the constitution Thomas Drake [View all]JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)If we really want to be precise. The 11 rejections you note occurred during the Bush and Obama years. And there are about 20,000 requests in that period, not 33,900.
And then 4 of those occur in 2003 and again in 2007.
Even with the upward trend, we're still looking at TINY numbers. What's been the increase in terrorist activity in the last 30 years ... what would that trend line look like? What's the change in US population ... what's its trend line?
All of this still leaves me looking at tiny numbers. NY city has about 9 million people. Even if all 1700 requests were focused there, its tiny.
One of the reasons I think the number is low is that most of the time, the investigators don't need the FISA court at all. They simply use the normal courts system. The only reason to go to the FISA court is because you believe that THIS warrant, which would most likely be granted in any other court, also requires the level of secrecy that the FISA court was specifically created for.
The overall numbers. and the rejection rate, are low because the FISA court just isn't needed all that often.
And my reference to a police state is not something I simply created ... people are making that claim (and worse) all over DU this week.