Wiretaps

["Dana W. Albrecht" <dwa@corsair.com>]

Wiretaps Up Sharply in Clinton Administration

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The Clinton administration has sharply increased use
of federal telephone wiretaps and other electronic surveillance in the
United States since taking office, The Washington Post reported Sunday. 

...

Civil rights and privacy advocates were upset with the trend but unable to
do much about it ...

Frederick Ness, who runs the Justice Department office that approves
applications for court-ordered wiretaps, told the Post: ``We are up 30 to
40 percent this year.'' 

In 1992, the last year of the Bush administration, there were 340 federal
court orders permitting electronic surveillance in criminal cases, the
newspaper said. Quoting unidentified officials, the report said that
number had risen to 672 last year and almost certainly would exceed 700 in
1996. 

The figures did not include ``national security'' wiretap orders, obtained
under intelligence legislation, which also had been rising dramatically,
the Post said. 

Preparing for expected continued growth in surveillance of domestic
criminals, the Justice Department was buying additional high-tech
equipment, developing new eavesdropping techniques and adding support
personnel, the report said.