Carter signs the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, creating the secret FISA court

President Jimmy Carter signed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on October 25, 1978, establishing a secret federal tribunal — the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — to authorize warrants for domestic national security surveillance. The law required intelligence agencies to obtain judicial approval before conducting electronic surveillance of individuals inside the United States, replacing the previously unchecked executive authority exposed by the Church Committee. FISA applied to foreign powers and their agents but excluded bulk collection programs that would later become the centerpiece of post-9/11 surveillance controversies.