Amendment of the constitution probable cause that a

Amendment of the Constitution, probable cause that a crime has been or is being
committed is required to obtain a search warrant. However, under FISA, surveillance is
authorized upon finding probable cause that the target of the surveillance is of a foreign
power or acting on behalf of a foreign power. Although, “if the target is a "U.S. person,"
there must be probable cause to believe that the U.S. person's activities may involve
espionage or other similar conduct in violation of the criminal statutes of the United
States. Nor may a U.S. person be determined to be an agent of a foreign power” solely
upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the
United States." 5 The FISA Amendment Act of 2008, which provides FISA with the
powers required to combat modern day issues, is often challenged as a violation of
other Constitutional rights and has even been compared to the East German Stasi. 6
FISA covers many aspects of surveillance, but the major provisions are
____________________________________________
4 "The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978," The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, accessed August 28, 2016,
.
5 Ibid.
6 Christian Caryl, "Secret Police State," Foreign Policy Secret Police State Comments, June 14, 2013, accessed August 28, 2016,
.

4
electronic surveillance, physical searches, pen registers and trap & trace devices for
foreign intelligence purposes, access to certain business records for foreign intelligence
purposes, and reporting requirements. A warrant is not required for intelligence
agencies to collect information pertaining to foreign enemies or terrorists through
electronic communications that takes place outside of the U.S. However, whenever
electronic communication takes place within the U.S., intelligence agencies are required
to adhere to FISA. U.S. citizens, legal residents and U.S. corporations are free from the
performance of illegal search(s) and seizure(s) due to the Fourth Amendment, which is
why FISA has numerous requirements for the protection of civil liberties while allowing
for the surveillance of U.S. persons. 7 Although the surveillance of U.S. persons is
authorized with FISA, the collection of information that is not directly applicable to the
specified target must be minimized. Also, physical searches under FISA follow a very
similar structure of that used for electronic surveillance and procedures for the
minimization of collected information not pertaining to the specific target must be
followed.
8
Furthermore, pen registers and trap & trace devices are a large part of FISA.
Prior to the Patriot Act, FISA was exempt from laws pertaining to the procurement of
information via the use of pen registers and trap & trace devices (dialing, routing,
addressing, signal information, etc.) as long as the information collected did not include
actual content. However, section 214 of the Patriot Act has removed the requirement for
the government to prove that the target is an agent for foreign power(s). Moreover,