Domestic SurveillanceCitizens feeling protected in their own nation is a crucial factor in the development and progress of that nation. The United States government was able to provide this service for a small fee, and for the most part it was money well spent. Due to the events leading up to and following the terrifying attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government began enacting certain laws and regulations to ensure the safety of its citizens. From the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 to the most recent National Security Agency scandal, the government has attempted and mostly succeeded in keeping domestic security in check. Ensuring that the balance between obtaining sufficient intelligence to protect the nation's security and preserving basic human rights is not wildly unbalanced, Congress has set forth requirements in FISA that are intended to balance the objectives conflicting privacy and security issues; but the timetable preceding this act has been anything but honorable for the United States government. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a United States federal law that describes and defines the procedures for surveillance and collection of physical and electronic intelligence in the United States of America. . As with any search and seizure operation, the surveying agency must obtain a warrant from a judge to carry out the spying; FISA went ahead and created its own court from which it obtains its surveillance warrants. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was created under FISA to oversee all surveillance warrants issued by federal law enforcement agencies. This court is served by a body of eleven judges placed there by the chief...... middle of paper ......constitution-to-conduct-domestic-surveillanceMacAskill, GG (April 28, 2014). The NSA Prism program mines user data from Apple, Google and others. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-2%20Special%20trail :Network%20front%20-%20special%20trail:Position1O'NEIL, DE (April 20, 2014). "White House begins new effort to defend surveillance program". Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/politics/23cnd-wiretap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0STEPHEN BRAUN, AF (May 9, 2014). Secret to Prism Program: Even greater data capture. The big story, p. 1.Wu, EY (April 28, 2014). 3 DOMESTIC SPYING AND WHY AMERICA SHOULD AVOID THE SLIPPERY SLOPE. Retrieved from lawweb: http://lawweb.usc.edu/why/students/orgs/rlsj/assets/docs/Wu_Final.pdf