2002.07.10
2002.07.10
anyone who has read my journal knows that i am all for taking care of the so called terrorists. however, i am also against alot of the idiocy that our so called leaders have tried to do in an attempt to curb their activities and catch them before their next attack. many in congress felt that swift action would automatically safeguard our country. however, as in the case of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (H.R. 3162) we are stepping further into the depths of a potential police state.
though this article in the yellow times (i wonder if the person that came up with the title had to take a leak?) is a bit extreme, it does point out some flaws in the letter and spirit of this law.
a better examination and criticism by the ACLU is here, and an in depth review of how the Act affects actual law is here on the center for democracy and technology’s site (warning: very detailed).
reading just a few of the section titles in the text of the Act is quite facinating. a sampling:
- Sec. 213. Authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant.
- Sec. 412. Mandatory detention of suspected terrorists; habeas corpus; judicial review.
- Sec. 1008. Feasibility study on use of biometric identifier scanning system with access to the FBI integrated automated fingerprint identification system at overseas consular posts and points of entry to the United States.
- read the whole list; you’ll find alot of it frightening.
much of what is covered in the text of the Act are changes to existing laws in the form of rewording, editing, or amending. as such many of the sections are practically incomprehensible unless you have the original laws sitting in front of you. some however, are a bit clear as large portions of text have been added.
for example, section 213 adds large amounts of text that essentially describe how when a warrant is issued those executing the warrant do not need to inform anyone till after the fact the reasons for a search and/or seizure. also, it gives those executing a warrant the power to ignore a warrant that expressly forbids the confiscation of certain items and take those things regardless. worse, the “sunset” section 224 says that most of the items in the 200s expire after 2005.12.31 with some notable exceptions, including section 213.
section 412 describes how an alien may be held under suspicion of being or going to be a terrorist. at the attorney general’s discretion (his or her whim depending on their character) the alien may be held for six months. at the end of the six months, the attorney general may choose to continue detention or to release the alien. further, if i am to understand the way this is written, no judiciary may rescind the attorney general’s decision. there are certain restrictions on this, but the section also states that only the supreme court and the circuit court of washington, DC shall be able to rule on the attorney general’s decisions.
section’s 501 and 502 explain how the attorney general and the secretary of state may give “rewards” with a spending cap of $250,000. imagine i am a friend of the attorney general’s (fat chance of that) and i make some lame computer intrusion detection software. i could be rewarded a whole lotta money. i could also be rewarded for saying, “terrorism is bad,” at a public school. amazing how eager we are to dole out money.
section 1008 specifies how the attorney general along with the sec. of state and the sec. of transportation should begin looking into how to use biometric devices to secure various locations and information. it also says that the results of this study should be submitted 90 days after the USA PATRIOT Act was passed. that time has come and gone and i wonder what these distinguished people have found.
to it’s credit, the Act is not an evil thing. there are good portions of it, such as a new definition for domestic and international terrorism, granting new specific and limited powers to the president to deal with acts of terrorism (relating it to an act of war), and large sections dedicated with how to deal with the after effects of a terrorist act in forms of compensation for victims, etc.
however, much of it is plainly in violation of certain amendments to the constitution. as an afterthought, the Act contains this passage to deal with sections of this nature: “Any provision of this Act held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any person or circumstance, shall be construed so as to give it the maximum effect permitted by law, unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or unenforceability, in which event such provision shall be deemed severable from this Act and shall not affect the remainder thereof or the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar circumstances.”
it is obvious that the Act required alot of work to write and the very short amount of time from 2001.09.11 to when the act was passed (2001.10.24). in their haste to pass this Act -anything to show some government action- i think our congress made a grievous error. instead of curbing the spread of terrorism in america it sets the basis for a police state where, like in communist russia, the innocent can too easily be brought up on trumped charges and in which the criminals will continue to thrive because there are always ways to avoid electronic surveillance and run illegal operations. it is an unfortunate truth that the criminal elements that matter are often far better equiped and far more motivated than the law enforcement sent to apprehend them.
more information on some of what went on behind the scenes to create this Act can be found here.
information on the voting for this Act can be found here.
i spent about an hour searching for sites online that supported the USA PATRIOT Act, but most of them are blind “let’s kick terrorist ass” sites or simply say (like this page) that they support the law. if you know of any pages that intelligently support the Act (especially in respect to how it relates to trampling civil liberties) please send them my way (address in the next paragraph).
now let’s see how long it takes for me to get some hate mail…
Categorized: political rights thoughts
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2 Responses to “2002.07.10”
- douglas.nerad » Republican Convention says (September 30th, 2006 at 17:47:00 )
[...] “What the hell are you talking about?” you ask. I’m talking about the rights all of us lost very shortly after September 11th, 2001. The USA Patriot Act, no matter what they tell you, is an infringement on our freedoms (see my previous article). Further, this President is more than willing to show his prejudice for a specific segment of our population: homosexuals. If you think this isn’t prejudice then you do now know what prejudice is, nor have you experienced it. [...]
- douglas.nerad » Welcome Back Patriot Act says (October 1st, 2006 at 19:22:27 )
[...] Later it is discovered to have a few rather unsavory parts and many more besides what I have quoted; here is more. Finally a few lawmakers got their heads out of their asses and started paying attention. I was relieved to hear even some Republicans beginning to wonder about the trampling of their freedom this bill allowed (though only 14 had the balls to vote against it). [...]
