Allow Patriot Act sections to expire (Harlingen TX)

[struggle4progress]

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wants the USA Patriot Act renewed, including the 16 provisions that in the original act are scheduled to expire, or "sunset," at the end of this year. He has said he is willing to engage critics in dialogue and already has endorsed a couple of technical tweaks in Section 215, which seems to give the government virtually unlimited power to demand records and "any tangible things" from institutions, including libraries. <snip>

The Patriot Act, rushed through Congress with little debate in the weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is long and convoluted.

A few sections — all scheduled to expire — are especially troublesome. Section 202 makes computer hacking a "predicate offense" allowing police to seek certain types of wiretaps; 203 allows federal law enforcement to share information from wide-net surveillance programs, like one dubbed "Carnivore" by the FBI, with spy agencies; 212 overrides privacy concerns so Internet service providers can more readily hand over information about customers and their habits to police; 215 allows police to use secret court orders to obtain records and other "tangible things" from businesses, persons and institutions, including libraries, and makes it illegal for the institution to tell anybody. <snip>

... The best bet, however, would be simply to let the "sunset" provisions expire at the end of this year.

http://www.valleystar.com/editorial_more.php?id=57578_0_28_0_M