The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court is no longer serving its constitutional function of providing a check on the executive branch’s ability to obtain Americans’ private communications. Dramatic shifts in technology and law have changed the role of the FISA Court since its creation in 1978 — from reviewing government applications to collect communications in specific cases, to issuing blanket approvals of sweeping data collection programs affecting millions of Americans. The report's authors explore the issues with the FISA court and reforms to fix it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com