"Secret U.S. Court OKs Electronic Spying"
CNet (11/18/02); McCullagh, Declan

An earlier ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 
declaring that domestic police agencies and spy agencies must be 
separated in order to protect Americans' privacy was overturned by the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, thus widening law 
enforcement's authority to conduct electronic surveillance, wiretapping, 
and secret searches against people suspected of espionage and 
terrorism.   

When the lower court made its ruling in May, Justice Department lawyers 
argued that the enactment of the USA Patriot Act nullified the need for 
a wall between local and federal law enforcement, and also established 
that the types of monitoring authorized by the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act (FISA) could now be carried out if terrorist or 
espionage acts represented a "significant purpose" of investigations 
rather than the primary purpose.   

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who requested the extension of 
powers, said the reversal will help usher in a new period of collaboration 
between police and federal agencies, and called it a "victory for liberty, 
safety, and the security of the American people."   

The ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 
responded to the decision by filing friend-of-the-court briefs 
recommending that the appeals court support the lower court's ruling.   

"Because the FISA now applies to ordinary criminal matters if they 
are dressed up as national security inquiries, the new rules could 
open the door to circumvention of the Fourth Amendment's warrant 
requirements," warned Robert Levy of the Cato Institute.   

"The result: rubber-stamp judicial consent to phone and Internet 
surveillance, even in regular criminal cases, and FBI access to 
medical, educational and other business records that conceivably 
relate to foreign intelligence probes."  

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-966311.html

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Cheers, Steve..

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