Applications for Court Approved Wiretaps Down in 2008
The 2008 Wiretap report, said federal and state courts issued 1,891 orders for the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications in 2008, down from 2,208 in 2007. (Dept. of Justice Press release.) As in the last three years, no applications for wiretap authorizations were denied by either state or federal courts. The total number of authorized wiretaps had grown in each of the six past calendar years, beginning in 2003. The 2008 Wiretap Report does not include interceptions regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or interceptions approvedby the President outside the exclusive authority of the federal wiretap law and the FISA.
Department of Justice Press Release
