The Nation - News from May 2, 1985

The number of wiretaps granted by federal judges jumped nearly 40% last year, representing a steady climb of electronic surveillance since the beginning of the Reagan Administration, a federal report released in Washington showed. Federal judges granted 289 applications in 1984 to place listening devices on telephone lines or to place a microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, contrasted with 208 in 1983, a 38.9% increase, a report by the administrative office of the U.S. Courts showed.