Fixing FISA

 TECHNOLOGY and the nature of threats to U.S. security have both changed enormously since Congress in 1978 passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which governs intelligence agencies' ability to conduct electronic surveillance in the United States. The law has been amended repeatedly since then, including after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but it's reasonable to think that another overhaul might be in order. For one, the law could be read to impose the burdensome requirement of preparing a warrant and obtaining court approval to intercept phone calls or e-mails that begin and end entirely outside the United States but that, by technological happenstance, are routed through the United States. Everyone from civil liberties groups to spymasters seems to agree that this is silly. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) have proposed workable remedies for this unintended glitch.
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