emptywheel

The actual point is that the attempts to wiretap people went even more bonkers than before. I.e. even so bonkers that the kangaroo decided to not rubber-stamp. The alarming thing is not that FISC became sane, it's the warrants became more insane.

You have zero evidence for that. Which is what the post explains.

The reports are still very vague. After Snowden, they changed the metrics so it doesn't show up as 100% rubber stamp anymore. Unmodified approval rate down could also mean that they now insist on correct spelling. We don't know anything. The actual requests are all secret.

Hi. Did you read the post? If you did, and were literate, you'd know they didn't CHANGE the metrics, instead Congress mandated a SECOND one. So we have one that uses same metric used for decades, and a new more meaningful one.

Yes, I read that. Are you sure the new metric is more meaningful, or just trying to make them look less of a rubber stamp court? @Snowden revealed that it's a kangaroo court (100% approval). The new metrics makes it look not to be one. I don't really believe.

I'm sure the metric is more meaningful. Unlike Snowden I've read a great deal about the court itself, and areas where it is actually more stringent than magistrate courts. Why do you keep treating DOJ BS in good faith?

I'm not on the side of DOJ. I'm on the side of people who get spied on. Snowden revealed a few documents about what the FISC did approve. And that was IMHO clearly rubber stamp, and not “stringent”. Magistrate courts could be rubber stamp kangaroos, too.

The DOJ wants the 100% approval rates to show people that they only request reasonable measures. That's foolish, they request unreasonable measures. Unreasonable even by the FISC's standards. But the actual decisions are classified, which — for bulk surveillance — shouldn't.