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| Wednesday, June 30, 2004 Boone, NC town council opposes PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act, which is an acronym for 'Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism,' was passed swiftly through Congress in October 2001, 45 days after Sept. 11. Among other provisions, the legislation grants governmental agencies further authority to investigate, without probable cause or warrants, individuals suspected of domestic terrorism. Three-hundred and twenty-nine municipalities and four states in the nation have expressed concern about violations of its residents' civil liberties, and to that extent have passed resolutions declaring their disapproval of the act." The Wautaga Democrat contains this article. Ashcroft calls for tougher Patriot Act For the last two years, Ashcroft has faced criticism from Democrats and civil libertarians who claim the “Patriot Act” infringes on people’s rights by detaining people without due process." Tampa Bay's 10 News Now reports here. Monday, June 28, 2004 Detainees, Combatants Can Challenge Detentions; Padilla Dismissed The court said detainees, whether American citizens or not, retain their rights, at least to a legal hearing, even if they are held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Guantanamo Bay is under U.S. control and thus appropriately within the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, the high court ruled." The Washington Post has this article. Also, the Court dismissed the Padilla case over a jurisdiction issue, but ruled that Padilla can bring his case again in South Carolina, where he has been detained for two years. The Washington Post reports here. Library group gathers Patriot Act data The association wants the information in its fight to bring about changes to the controversial law, said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the group's Washington office. The act 'jeopardizes library patrons' privacy in a way that has never been done before,' she said at the start of group's annual conference in Orlando." The AP reports here. Support of first freedoms back to pre-9/11 levels, new survey shows "The 2004 survey found that just 30 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement, ‘The First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees,’ with 65 percent disagreeing. The nation was split evenly, 49 percent to 49 percent, on that same question two years ago, in the survey following the ‘9/11’ attacks,” said Gene Policinski, acting director of the First Amendment Center." Friday, June 25, 2004 Savannah, GA City Council passes Patriot Act resolution The unanimous vote came after a divided council reached a compromise softening the resolution's language. Stricken was a paragraph stating provisions of the act, passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks, 'threaten fundamental rights and civil liberties.'" The Savannah Morning News reports here. Fairfax Supervisors Won't Condemn Patriot Act Raids erode our nation's civil liberties This time the attacks are taking the form of immigrant raids in greater Los Angeles. The detaining of hundreds of people this month in an apparent shift in Border Patrol policy to arrest undocumented workers in regions far from the border does nothing to address the U.S. policies that lead to immigration. Instead, it criminalizes and terrorizes members of our communities." The L.A. Daily News has this commentary. Wednesday, June 23, 2004 Lawyer's Terrorism Trial Opens in N.Y. Stewart and the other defendants are accused of helping Omar Abdel Rahman, the imprisoned blind cleric convicted of terrorism charges in 1995, to send orders to followers in Egypt. In one such message in 2000, Rahman withdrew his support for a cease-fire with the Egyptian government." The Washington Post reports here. House Bill Would Enforce Patriot Act Secrecy Clause In recent months, signs of public outrage have begun to surface over the FBI’s use of National Security Letters (NSLs) to secretly demand information from business and public agencies about their clientele. Under one of the most controversial section of the USA PATRIOT Act, third party record holders who receive NSLs requesting information about their patrons are forbidden from telling anyone about the Letter. Now some lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are considering a bill that would designate concrete penalties for people who refuse to comply with NSL requests for information or who tell anyone that federal agents requested personal information about their clients." The New Standard has this article. Librarians stand up against the Patriot Act Jacky Griffin is not the sort of person you want to cross. Large, elegant, with close cropped hair, she speaks with the confidence of youth and enormous intellect. She has a bulky bag slung across her shoulders, bumping against her as she strides across to meet me. It is full of books, and if anyone messes with books, they get Jacky's wrath." The BBC reports here. Tuesday, June 22, 2004 U.S. angry over loss of liberties: official However, Karl Hofmann, special assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said he's confident the right balance between security and freedom will eventually be found. "The search for the perfect balance between civil liberties and security is a delicate one," Hofmann said in an interview. CNews.com contains this article. Fairfax orders Patriot Act impact study Patriot Act abuses plain He said this in a letter to our editor Thursday, and challenged me to provide 'examples of abuses involving the Patriot Act.' While Ashcroft does not share the Justice Department's case files with me, I still must wonder, Mr. Alvarez, what planet you have been living on." PressTelegram.com has this column. Monday, June 21, 2004 Guantanamo inmates' importance overstated? Contrary to the repeated assertions of senior administration officials, none of the detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba ranked as leaders or senior operatives of al-Qaida, The New York Times reported, citing interviews with high-level military, intelligence and law-enforcement officials in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. MSNBC reports here. Lawyer Decries Patriot Act in Afghan Prison-Abuse Case "In my view, any time the federal government is expanding its jurisdiction and reach to include conduct that occurs overseas, that is startling," Sheldon said. The Patriot Act was created to help law enforcement fight terrorism, but in this case the Act is being used to protect foreigners from Americans. "The attorney general and this administration is, without question, expanding the role of the federal government . . . in an unprecedented way," said Sheldon. Friday, June 18, 2004 Patriot Act Provision Invoked, Memo Says Thursday, June 17, 2004 Liberty Beat: Declarations of Independence But seldom before has there been so widespread a refusal to trust the national government—cutting across political, religious, ethnic, and other divisions—as the current rising refusal, even during a war on international terrorism, to yield to the Bush administration's subversions of the Constitution in the urgent cause of national security. Nat Hentoff writes this for the Village Voice. Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Guantanamo Spy Case Military Judge Col. Barbara Brand criticized certain aspects of the government's case against Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi, who is accused of carrying prison maps, letters and other documents from the U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Reuters contains this report. Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Corzine, other Dems sponsor law to address Patriot Act 'abuses' The legislation would end the special registration program aimed at immigrants from the Middle East, create an independent immigration court and eliminate harsh penalties for some immigration violations. Newsday contains this article. Raleigh city council's big issue: U.S. Patriot Act Asking Congress to Support the Civil Liberties Restoration Act The undersigned organizations write to express our support for the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA) of 2004. Our organizations represent a diverse and growing movement in communities nationwide who believe that the United States can meet new security demands while preserving fundamental liberties and American values of fairness and equal treatment for all. Although we differ in our missions and mandates, we come together around these principles to endorse this important legislation. Human Rights Watch has this letter. Tuesday, June 15, 2004 Nat Hentoff: DOJ and Padilla Monday, June 14, 2004 Central Maine town condemns Patriot Act at annual meeting Saturday´s vote made the community of 1,440 residents the first in Maine to approve a resolution against the Patriot Act at a town meeting. Waterville, Portland and Bangor have passed similar resolutions through their city officials. The state Legislature also passed a resolution in March urging Congress to ensure that the federal anti-terrorism law doesn´t compromise civil liberties. Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont lawmakers have also passed anti-Patriot Act measures. The AP reports here. U.S. attorney defends Patriot Act The mailing, which includes a four-page letter, a newspaper editorial defending the law, and other background material, has infuriated civil libertarians who believe the Patriot Act infringes on personal liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. The Boston Globe contains this article. Bush's secret justice hauled into the dock In the next fortnight observers believe the court will deal a massive blow to an administration already reeling from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, and which has endured international outcry over the sprawling Guantánamo Bay prison, whose 700 inmates are held without charge or access to lawyers. The Observer reports here. Friday, June 11, 2004 Paterson, NJ Passes Anti-Patriot Act Resolution The City Council approved the resolution at Wednesday night's meeting. Newsday contains this article. Sami Al-Hussayen not guilty of aiding terrorist groups
Al-Hussayen remains in jail under a deportation order issued in 2003. Federal prosecutors now must decide whether to retry Al-Hussayen on the remaining visa charges or drop the case and allow immigration officials to deport him to his native Saudi Arabia. U.S. Attorney for Idaho Tom Moss said Thursday he was unsure how prosecutors will proceed. The Idaho Statesman reports here. Judge Reverses Anti-Terror Law Decision A scheduling conference was scheduled for next week in the case of Ismael Issa Barre, who is charged with operating a money-transfer business without a state license, a felony under the Patriot Act. The Washington Post contains this article. Thursday, June 10, 2004 California’s Ex-Republican Senate Candidate Judge Jim Gray Uses the Patriot Act as a Campaign Issue In opposing the controversial anti-terror legislation, Libertarians have stumbled upon the political high ground ( a return to the principles of less government, fewer taxes, and less infringements upon the Bill of Rights) and found an issue that could get more of them elected. Such is the case with California’s Judge Jim Gray, a lifelong Republican who split with the GOP after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act. Says Gray in a recent interview with LA CityBeat, “I was a lifelong Republican until a little less than two years ago, when I could no longer be a part of any group that would give force or credence to the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is a direct frontal assault on our civil liberties. It does not make us more secure, but circumvents the entire judicial review process so that the federal police can snoop into so many private areas of our lives. And they can use whatever they find for any type of prosecution whatsoever – terrorism or anything else.” Now Gray is running as a Libertarian senatorial candidate hoping to beat Republican pick Bill Jones and replace Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer. Scientists Say Padilla Dirty Bomb Would Be a Dud Bush Admin. Expects to Lose Padilla/Guantanamo Cases in Supreme Court As Isikoff and Hosenball report, "Lawyers within the Justice Department are now bracing for defeat in both the enemy-combatant and Guantanamo cases, both of which are expected to be decided before the Supreme Court ends its term at the end of the month, according to one conservative and politically well-connected lawyer. “They are 99 percent certain they are going to lose,” said the lawyer, who asked not to be identified. “It’s a very sobering realization.”" What An ACLU Suit Challenging An Important Section of the USA Patriot Act Tells Us About Surveillance and Secrecy The Plaintiff in the lawsuit is a "John Doe" Internet Service Provider(ISP)challenging Section 215's power to grant the government power to obtain subscriber information, billing records, and "electronic communication transactional records" from electronic communications providers. Writes Cassel, "Ashcroft promises, of course, that he is targeting "terrorists," not "innocent" people. But if the USA Patriot Act were really to be used only for this purpose, why isn't that limitation built into the law itself? Without such limitations, abuse is inevitable." Tuesday, June 08, 2004 Artist Falls Afoul of Patriot Act responding to a 911 call he'd made to report that his wife was unconscious (she later died in the hospital of "heart failure", authorties said)noticed the lab equipment and reported it to the police. Read the Christian Science Monitor web log of the story here. Kurtz was not allowed to return to his home for two days while FBI agents confiscated his equipment, biological samples, books, personal papers and computer. Now three other artists have been supoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury which will decide whether or not to charge Kurtz with with "possession of biological agents." Kurtz founded the Critical Art Ensemble, an artists' collective that produces artwork to educate the public about the politics of biotechnology. The group has used "harmless" transgenic [genetically modified] forms of the E.coli bacteria [some strains of E.coli can be deadly] in past exhibits. A member of the collective, Beatriz da Costa, an art professor at the University of California, Irvine, said the FBI served her a subpoena last week to appear at the grand jury hearing. A defense fund has been set up for Kurtz and other artists. Thursday, June 03, 2004 The Justice Department's triumphant victory over the Constitution Padilla case presents dilemma of law vs. security It can't charge him in civilian courts, Comey said Tuesday. He said a judge probably would throw out Padilla's confession to U.S. interrogators because Padilla, 33, was denied access to a lawyer. The administration can't set him free, Comey said, because Padilla has admitted plotting with some of al-Qaeda's top leaders to kill hundreds of Americans. Padilla's Plan B was to set off a radioactive device known as a ''dirty bomb'' in Washington, Comey said. ''We could care less about a criminal case when right before us is the need to protect American citizens and to save lives,'' he said. ''We'll figure out down the road what we do with Jose Padilla.'' USA Today contains this article. Wednesday, June 02, 2004 Freed lawyer warned of attacks on civil liberties Tuesday, June 01, 2004 In KC, Cheney defends Patriot Act Patriot Act Overview Supporters contend the Patriot Act is responsible for preventing further catastrophes. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in Congress in April 2004 that 'the biggest hero to emerge from the hearings before the 9-11 Commission has been the Patriot Act.' Detractors counter that the Patriot Act represents a loss of individual liberty and a naked grasp for power by the executive branch of government, particularly over the judicial branch. Robert Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, has written that the Patriot Act 'represents the looming sacrifice of civil liberties at the altar of national security.'" The First Amendment Center has this overview. Nat Hentoff: Patriot Act Besieged The next day, the headline in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch story on the debate (March 22) was "Ashcroft Staffer Admits Patriot Act Is Unpopular." And Chuck Rosenberg was quoted in the story: "We're losing this fight." The reporter, Doug Moore, told me Rosenberg had made that admission during the intermission in our debate. It wasn't my eloquence that deflated Rosenberg, but rather my focus that afternoon on the insistent resistance to the Patriot Act around the country—and in Congress. Read more... Privacy and The Matrix Barry Steinhardt: The exchange of data between the public and private sectors is very troubling. First, it raises questions of conflict of interest among the group of private corporations that are selling private personal data and the technology to mine it to the government. Are they "patriots" or effectively war on terrorism profiteers. Second, it has given the government an ability to use private data, like credit information, that it could not require Americans to provide it with. Imagine a police station, where there were paper files on every resident of a town that contained intimate private and governmental data. That is essentially what MATRIX does. Lastly, there are essentially no controls on how the private companies can use the product of this merger of governmental and private data. Ashcroft's job: Scare people into voting for Bush Are you scared yet?" |
About This Page Resources You Are Being Watched, and There Is No Place to Hide: An interview with Robert O'Harrow, Jr.
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