2006 Wiretap Report

From the press release: 

"A total of 1,839 orders were issued by federal and state courts in 2006 authorizing or approving the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications, also known as wiretaps. This is a 4 percent increase over the 1,773 orders issued in 2005, according to The 2006 Wiretap Report. The complete report contains information on interceptions concluded between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. A summary of the authorized intercepts reported for calendar years 1996-2006 is availabe in Table 7."  [RJ]

"No applications for wiretap authorizations were denied by either state or federal courts in 2006. Seventy-nine percent of all wiretap applications approved by state judges were for just 4 states; 430 applications in California; 377 applications in New York; 189 applications in New Jersey, and 98 applications in Florida. Currently, the federal government, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and 44 states have laws authorizing courts to issue orders permitting wire, oral, or electronic surveillance. Last year, 23 states and the federal government reported wiretap activity.

In 2006, the number of applications for intercepts submitted to state judges rose 20 percent to 1,378. The number of applications for interceptions submitted in 2006 to federal judges fell 26 percent to 461."