May 6, 2006:
During 2005, the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) approved 2,072 search warrants. That's an 18 percent over 2004. Moreover, only three percent of the 2005 warrants were modified by FISC, and none were refuse. FISC is a special court for issuing such warrants for use against foreigners suspected of doing harm to Americans within the United States. The government did not say why there was an increase, but it was probably because more investigative personnel are available. The FISC warrants are largely for electronic surveillance.