[ceejayoz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intellig...

> Over the entire 33-year period, the FISA court granted 33,942 warrants, with only 12 denials – a rejection rate of 0.03 percent of the total requests.

I really tend to doubt the agencies are that good at threading the needle.

(It's also a unique court, in that there's no opposing side. Just the government asking. I'd be much more comfortable with a setup where a group like the ACLU is permitted to object, while still being subject to security clearance and non-disclosure requirements.)

[wmil]

The rate is misleading since there's a back and forth with the judge before final submission.

eg the judge will look it over and says that there's no specific crime listed like the law requires, two weeks later there are money laundering allegations also listed, the judge approves it without asking where the new allegations came from.

[ceejayoz]

The same article states:

> Fewer than 200 requests had to be modified before being accepted, almost all of them in 2003 and 2004.