SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2003, Issue No. 37
May 1, 2003

FISA SURVEILLANCE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH

It is not exactly a surprise, but it is now official: Domestic U.S. government surveillance of suspected foreign intelligence and terrorist targets under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reached an all-time high in 2002.

According to the latest FISA annual report from the Department of Justice, "all 1228 applications presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2002 were approved."

The report, from Attorney General Ashcroft, notes that two applications were initially denied in part but then later upheld on appeal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.

In 2001, 934 applications were approved.

The text of the April 29 letter report, released today under the Freedom of Information Act, is here:

NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASES

New releases from the Public Record Office of the United Kingdom include "the Special Operations Executive (SOE) personnel file on Hardy Amies, former dressmaker to the Queen, and correspondence between Prime Minister Edward Heath and US President Richard Nixon on Vietnam." See:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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