See FISA Court Presiding Judge Reggie Walton's letter in response to queries from Senate Judiciary Committee Chariman Patrick Leahy .
The FISA court is described as working much as described in my post The NSA revelations: Are the programs legal?.
There is much to digest in the 11 page letter (30 pages with the FISC procedural rules attached) but this quote was striking to me:
To date, no electronic communications provider has opted to challenge a directive issued pursuant to Section 702 [...]
That is remarkable. For those who do not know, Section 702 provides electronic communications providers standing to challenge 702 directives. Specifically,
50 U.S.C. Sect. 1881a h 4 provides:
4) Challenging of directives
(A) Authority to challenge
An electronic communication service provider receiving a directive issued pursuant to paragraph (1) may file a petition to modify or set aside such directive with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which shall have jurisdiction to review such petition.
The standard of review is stated in subsection C:
(C) Standards for review
A judge considering a petition filed under subparagraph (A) may grant such petition only if the judge finds that the directive does not meet the requirements of this section, or is otherwise unlawful.
I plan a detailed essay analyzing the letter later this week.