One-out-of six Americans (16%) believe that the Federal government has wiretapped their phones. Sixty-six percent (66%) are confident their phones have not been tapped while 18% are not sure.

Politically liberal Americans are more likely to believe their phones have been tapped than moderates and conservatives. Among liberals, 26% believe they have been the subject of a wiretap while just 53% are confident their phones have not been monitored in this way.

Conservatives, by a 77% to 12% margin, say their phones have not been tapped.

Despite the legislative battle in Congress over extension of the Patriot Act, a plurality of Americans have no opinion as to whether or not this legislation should be renewed for four more years. Those who have an opinion are fairly evenly divided--33% of Americans say yes to extending the Patriot Act while 31% say no.

Roughly one-third of Americans believe that the U.S. legal system is too worried about protecting individual rights. Another third believes the system is too worried about national security while another third believes the balance is about right. That's little changed since we asked the same question in early January.

Those who believe they have been wiretapped oppose extension of the Patriot Act by a 49% to 21% margin. By a 3-to-1 margin, they believe our legal system is too concerned about national security.

Just 59% of Americans say they have been following news stories about the Patriot Act somewhat or very closely.

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