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Some comments by attorneys on the so-called "Patriot Act":
If you think the Bill of Rights is just so much scrap paper, and the separation of powers doctrine has outlived its usefulness, then the USA PATRIOT Act, passed overwhelmingly on Oct. 25, is the right recipe to deal with terrorists. On the other hand, if you are concerned about Fifth Amendment protection of due process, and Fourth Amendment safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures, then you should be deeply troubled by the looming sacrifice of civil liberties at the altar of national security.
Robert A. Levy, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
more at:
www.cato.org/current/terrorism/pubs/levy-martial-law.html
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"This law is based on the faulty assumption that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties," Laura W. Murphy, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington National Office, said in that group's analysis of the law. "The USA Patriot Act gives law enforcement agencies nationwide extraordinary new powers unchecked by meaningful judicial review."
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Conclusion by John Podesta (Visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center).
Many of the electronic surveillance provisions in the Patriot Act faced serious opposition prior to September 11 from a coalition of privacy advocates, computer users, and elements of high-tech industry. The events of September 11 convinced many in that coalition and overwhelming majorities in Congress that law enforcement and national security officials need new legal tools to fight terrorism. But we should not forget what gave rise to the original opposition—many aspects of the bill increase the opportunity for law enforcement and the intelligence community to return to an era where they monitored and sometimes harassed individuals who were merely exercising their First Amendment rights. Nothing that occurred on September 11 mandates that we return to such an era. If anything, the events of September 11 should redouble our resolve to protect the rights we as Americans cherish. Therefore, as the new powers granted under thePatriot Act begin to be exercised, we should not only feel more confident that our country has the tools to be safe but we should be ever vigilant that these new tools are not abused.
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November 26, 2001
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE
Bullied and herded by the leaders of both parties, our witless Solons in Washington passed the "USA PATRIOT Act" by a huge margin. Since the bill wasn't even printed before the vote, they couldn't possibly have read this 372-page document. But even if they had read it, it's doubtful they would have balked at passing the most draconian wartime measure since the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts. In the wake of 9/11, none but a few brave souls wantedto be seen as "soft on terrorism," and, in any case, the politicians' instinctive impulse to gather more power unto themselves was automatic, in this instance, as in any other. The big problem, however, is that a number of surprises are beginning to surface, as our congressional "patriots" realize that blindly playing follow-the-leader can often lead one over a cliff. Much attention has been paid to the "civil libertarian" aspects of this hideous bill: it would permit indefinite detention of non-citizens; and give the authorities carte blanche to read email, open snail-mail, and eavesdrop on phone conversations ? all without a warrant, and without having to answer to anyone. The Orwellian possibilities of a national chip-implanted ID card, and a national database to match, are pretty obvious, and these, too, are promised in the bill. But one key yet so far overlooked aspect of the "Patriot" Act is the draconian controls it imposes on American business, both large transnational mega-corporations and local mom-and-pop stores. Mr. and Mrs. Bourgeoisie tend to be GOP types, but what will these stolid Republican burghers say when they realize that they, too, are being "pressed into service on the home front in the war on terrorism," as the Boston Globe put it?
see more at www.antiwar.com/justin/j112601.html
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Some more links:
www.wartimeliberty.com/search.pl?topic=legislation
www.publishers.org/abouta/patriot.htm
www.indyweek.com/durham/2001-11-28/music2.html
www.sdimc.org/webcast/front.php3?article_id=1645&group=webcast
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