FISC Judges Denied Bush Wiretaps

According to UPI, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified 179 administration warrants and denied or deferred six. This stands in drastic contrast to the picture of FISC as a rubber stamp for applications under previous administrations. The inferences are clear—Bush found the standards hard to meet and decided to do an end run around the law. Expected spin from White House surrogates: Ivory Tower judges don't understand the War on Terror and their activism is making you unsafe. Reality: the Fourth Amendment is still in force despite the best efforts of the administration to bypass it. Given their record of deceit and manipulation regarding threats to the nation's security now more than ever it's crucial the other branches of government get involved and stay involved in monitoring the executive.