Boston Globe: Patriot Act stirs worry, but it's been little-used

[bpilgrim]

But what does the Patriot Act actually do? In essence, it expands the broad powers that the federal government has long possessed to investigate foreign spies to include anyone suspected of connection to terrorists.

The US Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures" without "probable cause," is the cornerstone of American civil liberty. Police must meet a high standard of proof that someone is likely involved in criminal activity before a judge will give them a warrant to search or seize their property or eavesdrop on their communications.

...

The Patriot Act goes further, allowing agents to bypass the Fourth Amendment in virtually any investigation with national security implications, not just those involving alleged foreign spies. Theoretically, a wide swath of Americans could be investigated with minimal judicial oversight.

...

In fact, many Patriot Act provisions were available to criminal investigators before it became law. The difference is that, under the act, agents don't have to prove probable cause to a judge to get a warrant to wiretap or search. Instead, they must seek permission from a special FISA court made up of a secretive panel of federal judges, which aren't bound by usual constitutional limitations.

Instead, they'll approve any request that clears FISA standards. Of 15,000 FISA search requests in the last two decades, judges have rejected only ONE.

more...
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2003/11/30/patriot_act_stirs_worry_but_its_been_little_used/

yeah, nothin to worry about...
the goverment already had most of these powers anyways.

btw: guess which admin is credited with of goining soft and turning a FISA request down... *

Access Denied

Zacarias Moussauoi (911 Suspect)
A booking shot from the Sherburne County, Minn. sheriff's office

FBI agents in Minneapolis weren’t given approval to search terrorist suspect’s hard drive by the Justice Department. If ‘two and two’ were put together could hijackings have been stopped, asks one investigator
By Michael Isikoff
and Daniel Klaidman
NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

more...
http://www.msnbc.com/news/636610.asp


peace

[bpilgrim]

1. kick

peace

[GOPisEvil]

2. Just because it hasn't been used doesn't mean it WON'T be used.

It is a frightening piece of legislation that never should have been passed.

[Zorra]

3. In the words of Jefferson

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
Thomas Jefferson

[Cocoa]

4. any aritcle on the Patriot Act worth its salt

must mention that it is being used for non-terrorist related cases, such as the strip club corruption case in Nevada.

Also, the PA is only part of the civil liberties problems, there is also the unconstitutional detentions that are being made without reference to the Patriot Act.

Also, the FBI spying as far as I know is not dependent on the PA.

The biggest civil liberties problem is the president and attorney general.

And those quotes in the article from the Justice Dept. are wortheless, there's no reason to believe anything they say, they lied to Congress about plans for PA II for example.

[bpilgrim]

6. good point

:toast:

peace

[Eric J in MN]

5. a few things

1) Law enforcement has been secretive about its use of the Patriot Act, even to Congress, so we don't know how much it's being used.

2) The Patriot Act has many non-terrorist related provisions, including Section 216 for monitoring web-surfing based on "certification" of law-enforcement instead of proving the merits to a judge.

3) Regarding Mousauoui, it would have been illegal for the Foreign Intelligence court to grant a warrant at that time, since that court was
only for suspects believed to be acting on behalf of foreign governments. The FBI could have gone to ordinary criminal court instead to get a warrant, but didn't.