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All 6 posts   Subject: Patriot Act to expire in 2005   Please login to post   Down

 
    Jade
(soccer mom)
09-26-04 16:45
No 533260
User Picture 
      Patriot Act to expire in 2005     

EDITOR'S NOTE: What follows is a letter to Congress from the newly formed Coalition for Security, Liberty and the Law, representing dozens of leaders in law enforcement, the legal community, think tanks, and public opinion. The debate over the Patriot Act typically focuses on its opponents — lead, most prominently, by the American Civil Liberties Union. This new coalition aims to change that — so that people who appreciate the contribution the Patriot Act is making to American security are heard.

23 September 2004

Dear Leaders:

We write to express our strong support for the USA Patriot Act and concern about misinformation about the necessary legal tools it provides to battle al-Qaeda and our other terrorist enemies. Vital sections of the Patriot Act, such as information-sharing provisions, will expire in 2005. For the security and safety of the American people, no provision of the Patriot Act should expire. Moreover, the temporary provisions should be made permanent.

Since its nearly unanimous passage in October 2001, the Patriot Act has played a key — and often the leading — role in successful operations to thwart terrorists dedicated to
destroying America and our culture. In passing the Act, Congress extensively debated the commonsense updates in the law and provided safeguards for civil liberties.

For example, the Patriot Act allows investigators to use tools that had been available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking. As Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) explained during floor debate, "[T]he FBI could get a wiretap to investigate the mafia, but they could not get one to investigate terrorists. To put it bluntly, that was crazy! What's good for the mob should be good for terrorists."

The Patriot Act also removed major legal barriers that prevented the law enforcement, intelligence, and national defense communities from coordinating information. Now police officers, FBI agents, federal prosecutors and intelligence officials can protect our communities by "connecting the dots" to uncover terrorist plots before they are completed. Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) declared when he voted for the Act, "[W]e simply cannot prevail in the battle against terrorism if the right hand of our government has no idea what the left hand is doing."

The Act made the law current with modern technology. We no longer have to fight a digital-age battle with antique legal weapons left over from the era of rotary telephones. When investigating the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, for example, law enforcement used one of the Act's new high-tech authorities to identify and locate some of the killers.

Before September 11, 2001, law enforcement, intelligence, and national security officials were prevented by legal and bureaucratic restrictions from sharing critical information with each other, and with state and local police.

Before September 11, law enforcement could more easily obtain business and financial records of white-collar criminals, such as nursing home scammers, than of suspected terrorists. It was easier to chase a money trail involving a white-collar criminal than one involving a terrorist. The Act ended this double-standard. Importantly, the Patriot Act still requires the government to ask a judge for a court order to do so.

Before September 11, federal judges could impose tougher prison terms on drug traffickers than on terrorists. The Act strengthened penalties for crimes committed by terrorists, such as arson or attacks on power plants and mass transit systems.

After the Act was passed, terrorist cells were dismantled in Oregon, New York, North Carolina and Virginia. Terrorists were prosecuted in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. In other words, the Patriot Act's tools are protecting us. Terrorist funds — $200,000,000 — have been frozen or seized. We're cutting off their money. We're following the money.

Further, Congress built into the Act strict and structured oversight of the Executive Branch. Every six months, the Justice Department must report to Congress about its activities under the Act. Justice Department officials have testified on the Patriot Act and other homeland security issues scores of times.

The government's success to date in preventing another catastrophic attack on the American homeland since September 11, 2001, would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, without the USA Patriot Act. The authorities Congress provided have substantially enhanced the ability of our law enforcement and intelligence officials to prevent, investigate, and prosecute acts of terror. It is an essential law that provides for checks and balances while enabling the government to fight what will, no doubt, be a challenging and prolonged war against terrorists determined to kill us and destroy our society.

It has been our experience that when people understand the specific provisions of the USA Patriot Act, as opposed to the inaccurate rhetoric, the most frequent reaction is surprise that most of what is in the Act was not already law. That is why, for the safety of the American people, we ask that no provision of the Patriot Act be allowed to expire and the temporary provisions be made permanent.
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/document200409231336.asp

There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
 
 
 
 
    paranoid
(Quick-witted Quibbler)
09-26-04 17:55
No 533263
User Picture 
      After reading that, I want to vomit.     

After reading that, I want to vomit.

"It has been our experience that when people understand the specific provisions of the USA Patriot Act, as opposed to the inaccurate rhetoric"

Um, like the rhetoric written above?

"the most frequent reaction is surprise that most of what is in the Act was not already law."

Exactly.  However unlike the inference here, surprised that it became law after the passing of the act.

" That is why, for the safety of the American people, we ask that no provision of the Patriot Act be allowed to expire and the temporary provisions be made permanent. "

What are you going to do america?  Let this bullshit come to pass?

Unfortunately, probably yes...

My ideal vacation - Juxtaposed along the precipice intersecting reality and fantasy (i.e. wanking).
 
 
 
 
    Jade
(soccer mom)
09-27-04 11:51
No 533376
User Picture 
      Resolution     

New Mexico leads the way in state nullification of the PATRIOT law. The resolution passed the House by a remarkable 53-11 vote. Though the resolution is pro-immigration, it has other provisions that are well-written and impressive, such as the way it address the encroachments on education privacy (FERPA), medical privacy (AAPS is suing over this), and sneak and peek.
Presumably other states will soon follow.
http://www.mindspring.com/~schlafly/blog/2003-04.htm

The New Mexico Resolution

 
WHEREAS the government of the United States has, for the last 30 years and more, attempted to control the problems of drug abuse and addiction by means of policies collectively known as the "war on drugs",

WHEREAS these policies are primarily militaristic, punitive, and brutal, and are therefore causing an unacceptable level of collateral (innocent) damage,

WHEREAS these policies, even after many expensive, cold-blooded, and constitutionally dangerous expansions, have brought only increased and ongoing misery, suffering, and death in our society and other societies,

WHEREAS these policies are irrefutably linked to the dissolution of families, to the neglect of children, to joblessness, crimes of violence, historic levels of official corruption, property crimes, and to the empowerment of an endless parade of well-heeled and vicious criminal organizations, large and small,

WHEREAS these policies have needlessly cost the lives of too many hundred police officers, and put the lives of thousands of officers needlessly at risk, and have corrupted thousands of officers in hundreds of communities, and have distorted and strained the relationship between police and citizens,

WHEREAS these policies have left certain drugs, like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana on the streets where our children can more easily find them,

WHEREAS these policies have caused dishonest, confusing, and shameful messages to be
sent to our children,

WHEREAS these policies have caused the long term imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of non-violent Americans for victimless crimes, making the United States the world's leading jailer.

WHEREAS these policies have led to the serious erosion of the constitutional protections
which are the birthright of every American,

WHEREAS these policies have led directly to the suffering and death of many thousands of
innocent people in other countries and have contributed to national and ecological and human
catastrophes in Colombia, and have seriously destabilized and corrupted other Latin American countries, and many other countries around the world.

WHEREAS these policies have taken away several hundred billion dollars, the wealth of a generation, from education, health care and families, forever, to no meaningful positive effect,

WHEREAS these policies, in practice, have greatly exacerbated the problems of race relations and demolished much of the progress made by minorities in the last 50 years,

WHEREAS these policies have caused the reduced availability of legal, effective and safe pain medications for millions of seriously ill and terminally ill patients,

WHEREAS these policies have led to the demonization, terrorization, and abandonment of
those Americans most in need of help, those who are trapped in a serious problem with drugs.

WHEREAS these policies have not, in eighty years, reduced drug use, drug abuse, drug availability, or the negative effects of these behaviors,

WHEREAS the government of the United States has imposed these destructive policies, by threat and force, on all the States of the United States, on most other countries, and on the United Nations,

WHEREAS the government of the United States and, for the most part, our elected representatives, have repeatedly and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the destructiveness
and lack of effectiveness of these policies or to even consider an official examination of these policies, even after being strongly and repeatedly encouraged to do so by many prominent, experienced, and knowledgeable citizens,

WHEREAS it is most probable that continuing and/or expanding these failed policies will lead only to more misery, destruction, and death,

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the supporters of this resolution, that we condemn the arrogant and callous disregard for life and family and children, and the scandalous and indefensible squandering of enormous resources of the people of the United States, all of which permeates these policies and their application.

Be it further resolved by the supporters of this resolution, that we hereby strongly oppose the efforts by the government of the United States to continue these destructive and cruel policies without first, and immediately, establishing a strong, objective, non- partisan "blue-ribbon" commission, which will have the authority and responsibility to accrue and disseminate complete, accurate, and unbiased information about the costs and effectiveness of these policies, and of alternative policies; about the relative properties and problems of all drugs, legal and illegal; and about the political role played by commercial interests in prolonging the imposition of these policies and avoiding a serious official examination of them.

Joe Minella

There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
 
 
 
 
    Jade
(soccer mom)
10-01-04 11:02
No 534014
User Picture 
      No expiration date     

Using the pageantry of his third State of the Union speech, Bush set in motion a battle over privacy and security that will continue through the presidential campaign and will likely climax before the law's Dec. 31, 2005, partial expiration date.

"Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year," Bush said. "The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens--you need to renew the Patriot Act."

One section that will expire permits police to conduct warrantless Internet surveillance with the permission of a network operator. A second section permits police to share the contents of wiretaps or Internet surveillance with the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and other security agencies. Another section makes it easier for prosecutors to seek search warrants for electronic evidence. A fourth, Section 215, became well known after some librarians alerted visitors that it permits the FBI to learn what books a patron has read and what Web sites a patron visited--and prohibits the recipient of such an order from disclosing that it exists.

Keeping those portions of the law intact will permit "federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells and to seize their assets," Bush said.

Enacted a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act became a target of criticism for giving police broad powers and allegedly curbing civil liberties in the process.

Democratic presidential candidates have criticized it to varying extents, with Sen. John Kerry saying last month that he would take a hard look at the Patriot Act. "We will put an end to 'sneak and peak' searches, which permit law enforcement to conduct a secret search and seize evidence without notification," said Kerry, who acknowledged that he voted for the measure in 2001. "Agents can break into a home or business to take photos, seize property, copy computer files or load a secret keystroke detector on a computer. These searches should be limited only to the most rare circumstances." Let's hope he keeps his word on this.

After Bush's speech, ABC News asked Kerry whether he would keep the law intact. Kerry replied: "I think there are good parts to it and bad parts to it."

Fellow Democrat Howard Dean has taken a similarly cautious stand, saying in a letter to MoveOn.org PAC members that he would seek to repeal only "parts" of the Patriot Act and not the entire law.

Many portions of the Patriot Act have no expiration date. One part makes it much easier for police to learn the identities of a target's e-mail correspondents and Web pages visited; another permits police to learn information about an Internet subscriber, such as credit card or bank account numbers and temporarily assigned network addresses, without seeking a judge's approval first. The section that permits "sneak and peek" warrants, which authorize surreptitious searches of homes and businesses, also does not expire.mad 
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5144203.html


Also see Post 533899 (Jade: "secret government searches unconstitutional", Law and Order)

House Debate http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/h070804.html

There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
 
 
 
 
    Jade
(soccer mom)
10-01-04 11:19
No 534015
User Picture 
      Paranoid asks a good question     


What are you going to do america?  Let this bullshit come to pass?





You can download a Patriot Act Outreach Flyer Here (pdf file) http://www.libertarianaction.com/patriot-act-flyer.pdf

Download a petition (pdf file) here http://www.libertarianaction.com/petition.pdf

Download a petition (html format) here http://www.libertarianaction.com/html-petition.htm


There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
 
 
 
 
    Jade
(soccer mom)
10-09-04 16:27
No 535044
User Picture 
      Another good link     

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee has a website with all kinds of information.

http://www.bordc.org/

There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
 
 

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