Why had the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act been created in 1978?

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George W. Bush: signing of USA PATRIOT Act — USA PATRIOT Act Pres. George W. Bush signing the USA PATRIOT Act in the East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C., October 26, 2001.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was created in 1978 to impose necessary legal limits on the federal government’s largely unchecked power to conduct surveillance on its own citizens.1

Its establishment followed the Watergate scandal and the findings of the bipartisan Church Committee, which conducted a meticulous investigation into intelligence abuses. The committee revealed that government agencies had engaged in numerous covert operations without warrants, including:

Monitoring the communications of U.S. citizens, including political opponents and journalists.1
Conducting assassination plots against foreign leaders.1
Opening the mail of U.S. citizens.1
Performing surreptitious drug testing on government employees.1

Ultimately, FISA was designed to ensure that intelligence activities aligned with the law and to establish checks and balances between national security interests and the preservation of fundamental human rights.1