This secret court denied exactly 0 spying requests from the feds in 2015

Every time the federal government wanted to conduct surveillance for "foreign intelligence purposes" in 2015, it got permission to do exactly what it pleased.

A Justice Department memo reported by Reuters indicates that the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court (FSIC) — which is tasked with reviewing federal requests for electronic spying, physical searches, and other forms of surveillance against foreign suspects — rubber-stamped every spying request it received last year. All 1,457 petitions were approved, and only 80 of them were modified at all.

This unanimous approval is typical for the court, which operates behind closed doors. In 2014, it received 1,379 request and likewise endorsed all of them.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up