4/29/2005

Wiretaps, wiretaps everywhere, and not an application denied:
The number of court-authorized secret wiretaps across the country surged by 19 percent last year, records show. As law enforcement authorities tried to keep apace of technology favored by criminals, not a single application was denied. State and federal judges approved 1,710 applications for wiretaps of wire, oral, or electronic communications last year, and four states -- New York, California, New Jersey, and Florida -- accounted for three out of every four surveillance orders, according to the Administrative Office of the US Courts...The numbers, released yesterday, do not include court orders for terror-related investigations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year, according to the Justice Department. In non-terrorist criminal investigations, federally approved wiretaps increased 26 percent in a year, to 730 applications, while state judges approved 980 wiretaps, an increase of 13 percent.

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