Jimmy Carter served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977
to 1981.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

What is the FISA court?

The FISA court is a tribunal established in 1978 that decides whether to
approve wiretaps, data collection and government requests to monitor
suspected terrorists and spies.

It�s just blocks away from the White House and Capitol, inside a secure
area of the US District Court on Constitution Avenue. But it�s completely
out of the public eye.

Officials won�t say exactly where the FISA courtroom is located inside the
bunker-like complex. It�s so secretive, the room is tightly sealed to
prevent eavesdropping.

How does the court work?
Eleven federal district judges serve on a rotating basis, usually for one
week at a time. All judges have a maximum term of seven years with the
FISA court.

And only one person has the power to appoint the judges: Chief Justice of
the United States John Roberts.

Congress doesn�t need to confirm which federal judges take on the added
responsibility of serving on the FISA court.

The judges come from across the country � in fact, they have to come from
at least seven of the US judicial circuits.

In theory, those judges can issue warrants from anywhere, said University
of Texas law professor and CNN contributor Steve Vladeck. But in practice,
the judges usually issue orders during the weeks when they�re �on
rotation� at the FISA court in Washington.

What was the original goal of the FISA court?
It started back in 1978 with the court�s namesake, the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act. That law was enacted �to authorize
electronic surveillance to obtain foreign intelligence information.�

Back then, the Cold War was in full force. And foreign spying � not
terrorism � was the big concern.

FISA also came in the wake of the Watergate scandal and after revelations
that the government had been using national security as a pretext to spy
on citizens, such as the FBI�s spying on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The FISA court started by granting individual warrants for collecting
certain pieces of electronic data. But big changes came in the 21st
century.

What changed?

After the 9/11 terror attacks, the court started authorizing more sweeping
collections of mass data.

In 2008, for example, changes in surveillance laws gave the attorney
general and the national intelligence director more authority to order
�mass acquisition� of electronic traffic, as long as it�s related to a
terror or espionage investigation.

In other words, a FISA court judge could authorize the collection of a
telecom company�s entire database of phone records, if it�s deemed
relevant to counterterrorism efforts.

Why has it come under criticism?
Controversy over the FISA court�s broad powers blew up in 2013, when
Edward Snowden revealed a secret court order approving the mass collection
of metadata from telecom giant Verizon and Internet companies such as
Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

That led to a heated debate about the limits of privacy and due process.

The FISA court does hear challenges, though. In 2013, Yahoo scored a win
when FISC ruled that the government must publish court papers from 2008
detailing Yahoo�s objections to releasing users� data without a warrant.

But there are other reasons the FISA court has come under fire.

Because it�s closed off from the public and only hears the government�s
side, some say the court basically �rubber-stamps� any request from the
government.

The FISA court does routinely send applications back to the government to
be modified and narrowed, Vladeck said. But the vast majority of
applications eventually get approved.

Between 1979 and 2015, virtually all requests for surveillance were
approved by the FISA court, though some were modified, according to the
Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy watchdog group.

And a 2016 Justice Department report showed that of the 1,457 requests
made to the FISA court in 2015 for permission to conduct electronic
surveillance, one was withdrawn by the government. As for the rest, �FISC
did not deny any applications in whole, or in part,� the Justice
Department said.