CapitolHillBlue: Inside the Federal Government's 'Star Chamber'

"Each and every weekday, 11 federal judges meet in secret in Washington and review FBI and Department of Homeland Security requests for warrants to spy on Americans.
And, on average, the court approves seven warrants a day, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
But while the numbers of warrants issued are obtainable (only after a long, bureaucratic battle with the Department of Justice), very little else is known about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secure chambers at the Department of Justice Headquarters.
Some privacy groups refer to the court as a “Star Chamber,” a secret coven of judges who hold the future of Americans in their judicial hands. Although the court was created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, it has become recent tool of the Bush Administration to wiretap, follow, investigate and harass Americans under the guise of the war against terrorism.
And the law allows the court to conduct its business in secret, with no oversight from any federal agency or legislative body, including the U.S. Congress.
“This secrecy is unnecessary and allows problems in applying the law to fester,” three U.S. Senators – one Democrat and two Republicans – told the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a letter last year.
The three – Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Charles Grassley of Iowa – say their own investigations have found widespread inaccuracies in warrant applications, breaking of the law by top government attorneys and outright sloppiness in executing the warrants.
“Without oversight and public scrutiny, there is no compelling reason for the court or the Department of Justice to follow the rule of law,” the letter said."