The U.S. Supreme Court has handed Ashcroft another victory. The Court refused to allow the ACLU, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL) and other groups to intervene and appeal the FISA Review Court decision allowing expanded secret searches of mail, email and conversations and the unprecedented sharing of the seized information between intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case, so the issue likely be back before the Court at some point.

The Bush administration has argued the surveillance, and a special court that oversees sensitive domestic espionage tactics, are indispensable tools in the war on terror. The ACLU used an unusual maneuver to get the case to the Supreme Court, filing an appeal on behalf of people who don't even know they're being monitored. The justices would have had to give special permission to allow it. They refused, without comment. The action was not a ruling on the merits of the ACLU's challenge, and the issue is expected to return to the high court later.

Civil liberties watchdogs are concerned about the expanded use of FISA for secret surveillance and searches because there is "little or no" oversight by the courts or outide parties over the process. Further, the target of the surveillance never has to be informed that the government has obtained his personal records or put him under surveillance, and those who turn over records are effectively gagged from disclosing they received an order and complied with it.

Our summary of the case that was decided today is here. Our detailed coverage of the case, the arguments against the ruling and the FISA and Patriot Act provisions that underlie Ashcroft's justification for the expanded surveillance, can be found here.

The Washington Post reports today on Ashcroft's significant expansion of the number of wiretaps and other searches since the ruling by the FISA Review Court.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Justice Department and FBI have dramatically increased the use of two little-known powers that allow authorities to tap telephones, seize bank and telephone records and obtain other information in counterterrorism investigations with no immediate court oversight, according to officials and newly disclosed documents.

The FBI, for example, has issued scores of "national security letters" that require businesses to turn over electronic records about finances, telephone calls, e-mail and other personal information, according to officials and documents. The letters, a type of administrative subpoena, may be issued independently by FBI field offices and are not subject to judicial review unless a case comes to court, officials said.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has also personally signed more than 170 "emergency foreign intelligence warrants," three times the number authorized in the preceding 23 years, according to recent congressional testimony.

Update: You can read the opinion here.