A secret court where only the government is represented is un-American.
Regular federal courts are sufficient for the FBI to get search warrants. If Federal Courts are insufficient for this, how is a secret federal court more trustworthy?
Remember, we never needed a secret court during the original cold war and we conducted deadly serious investigations.
Secret courts are un-American.
The target never gets an advance view of the process used to get a search warrant against him.
The only time the target is aware of the snoop is if and when the evidence is introduced in a criminal trial. Warrants THEN become a matter of public record, unless the judge seals the warrant, which is actually very common.
That said, I agree with you that FISA is a sham and a waste.