Let Sense, Not Fear, Guide The Patriot Act
Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Editorial From The Seattle Times
Let sense, not fear, guide the Patriot Act
The Patriot Act, now up for reauthorization, was passed at a time of maximum fear. America had been attacked. Security was the urgent concern. Now is a more normal time, and Congress needs to rewrite this law to make it consistent with our civil liberties.
The Constitution promises all Americans "due process of law" before government takes away life, liberty or property. It also guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." The police may search, but first they need to convince a judge that they know what they're looking for, need to have it and have "probable cause" to look in a specific place.
The current Patriot Act compromises these principles, sometimes severely. One section of the act allows the police to secretly search a home and not tell the owner for six months. "Sneak-and-peek" searches existed before the Patriot Act, and may be justified when evidence is vulnerable to quick destruction. The Patriot Act makes such searches easier.
The act also allows the FBI to seize a person's medical, business, library and gun-purchase records by getting an order from a special court that does not demand probable cause. This "FISA Court" was set up under a 1978 law for espionage cases only. The Patriot Act expanded it to other cases. It also declared that no one who receives a FISA warrant can tell anyone else about it, which means a FISA warrant cannot be contested.
The act also expands the use of National Security Letters, which are a kind of warrant that the Justice Department writes for itself, authorizing its agents to seize such things as records of money movements, telephone calls and Internet visits. Recipients of a National Security Letter are not allowed to tell anyone about them, and so cannot contest them.
National Security Letters were authorized by a 1986 law for terrorism only. The Patriot Act expanded them for other uses.
The House and Senate have each passed bills reauthorizing the Patriot Act. The House bill fixes none of these problems. The Senate bill fixes some of them. It is not ideal, but is the better alternative.
Our delegation should support the Senate version — and keep aware of civil liberties, which always tend to diminish during times of conflict and war.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
Editorial From The Seattle Times
Let sense, not fear, guide the Patriot Act
The Patriot Act, now up for reauthorization, was passed at a time of maximum fear. America had been attacked. Security was the urgent concern. Now is a more normal time, and Congress needs to rewrite this law to make it consistent with our civil liberties.
The Constitution promises all Americans "due process of law" before government takes away life, liberty or property. It also guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." The police may search, but first they need to convince a judge that they know what they're looking for, need to have it and have "probable cause" to look in a specific place.
The current Patriot Act compromises these principles, sometimes severely. One section of the act allows the police to secretly search a home and not tell the owner for six months. "Sneak-and-peek" searches existed before the Patriot Act, and may be justified when evidence is vulnerable to quick destruction. The Patriot Act makes such searches easier.
The act also allows the FBI to seize a person's medical, business, library and gun-purchase records by getting an order from a special court that does not demand probable cause. This "FISA Court" was set up under a 1978 law for espionage cases only. The Patriot Act expanded it to other cases. It also declared that no one who receives a FISA warrant can tell anyone else about it, which means a FISA warrant cannot be contested.
The act also expands the use of National Security Letters, which are a kind of warrant that the Justice Department writes for itself, authorizing its agents to seize such things as records of money movements, telephone calls and Internet visits. Recipients of a National Security Letter are not allowed to tell anyone about them, and so cannot contest them.
National Security Letters were authorized by a 1986 law for terrorism only. The Patriot Act expanded them for other uses.
The House and Senate have each passed bills reauthorizing the Patriot Act. The House bill fixes none of these problems. The Senate bill fixes some of them. It is not ideal, but is the better alternative.
Our delegation should support the Senate version — and keep aware of civil liberties, which always tend to diminish during times of conflict and war.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
posted by FancyRage at 6:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home