Saturday, July 30, 2005
Senate Approves Partial Renewal of Patriot Act
While the Senate renewed much of the Patriot Act--placing a few restrictions on the bill--a U.S. District Judge found in a ruling yesterday "that several terms in the Patriot Act and other related laws are 'impermissibly vague' and violate the Fifth Amendment." The WashPost has this article.
Senate Makes Permanent Nearly All Provisions of Patriot Act, With a Few Restrictions
The NYTimes reports: "The Senate voted unanimously on Friday to make permanent virtually all the main provisions of the law known as the USA Patriot Act, after Republican leaders agreed to include additional civil rights safeguards and to forestall any expansion of the government's counterterrorism powers."
Friday, July 29, 2005
Ressam judge decries U.S. tactics
The Seattle Times has this piece about comments U.S. District Judge John Coughenour made after he sentenced Ahmed Ressam to a 22-year prison term for attempting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the millennium's eve. "The tragedy of Sept. 11 shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism," said Coughenour in a voice edged with emotion. "Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."
Subway searches to continue in New York
"New York authorities say they have no plans to end bag searches on the city's subways, despite the threat of a legal challenge." AP reports here.
State Supreme Court rules U.S. Constitution limits searches
AP reports: "The state Supreme Court, extending a line of civil liberties rulings, ruled today that the U.S. Constitution bars noncriminal search warrants without legislation or a court rule expressly allowing them."
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Subway Shakedowns: Necessary Security or Unconstitutional Violation?
"New York City police are now conducting random searches of subway passengers in a program of stepped-up security following the London subway and bus blasts earlier this month. Civil liberties groups say the searches are unconstitutional and ineffective." Democracy Now hosts this debate.
A Useless, Intrusive P.R. Display: The illusion of security vs. the reality of the Fourth Amendment
Reason has this pointed criticism of the U.S. response--particularly New York's random subway searches--to the July 7 terrorist bombings of the London.
Bush nominee frustrates GOP senator at hearing; Specter says support may be in jeopardy
The Chicago Tribune reports: "After politely sparring with Timothy Flanigan, a peeved Sen. Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, hinted Tuesday he might not support President Bush's choice to serve as second-in-command of the Justice Department if Flanigan wasn't more willing to allow lawmakers to look over his shoulder."
Rev. Al Weighs In On Subway Searches
"We're concerned with what happens when school opens and we have hundreds of thousands of students, all of whom have backpacks," Sharpton said. The Village Voice has this post about Al Sharpton's concerns that New York's subway searches will result in racial profiling.
Terror by the Numbers
The Village Voice has this article about New York's subway searches. "Random searches are as much about the appearance of safety as safety itself."
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Political activists fight Patriot Act renewal in Boulder
The Daily Times-Call has this article about 30 protestors who stood in the rain outside the Boulder Municipal Building to object to expansion of the Patriot Act.
Outrageous French-fry ruling -- Democrats can teach Roberts a lesson
Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. has this op-ed in The Providence Journal regarding an opinion John Roberts issued refusing Fourth Amendment protection to a 12-year-old girl arrested for eating a french fry in a train station.
In Britain, a Divide Over Racial Profiling
The WashPost reports: "Seven bullets fired into a young Brazilian man's head by an undercover policeman who mistook him for a suicide bomber have set off an impassioned debate over the rights and wrongs of anti-terrorism tactics and racial profiling in one of the world's most ethnically diverse cities."
Abu Ghraib Dog Tactics Came From Guantanamo
The Washington Post has this article about testimony given in the preliminary hearing of two Army dog handlers accused of mistreating detainees.
Justice Nominee Is Questioned on Department Torture Policy
"President Bush's nominee for the second-ranking spot at the Justice Department shed new light Tuesday on the 2002 development of the administration's positions on the treatment of terrorism detainees, but characterized some of the legal conclusions as 'sophomoric.'" The NYTimes has this article.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Surveillance cameras advance in use, features, competition
New Jersey's Courier-Post has this article about the increased use of surveillance cameras in businesses, and soon, homes.
Connecticut ACLU Challenges Transit Searches
1010wins.com reports: "The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has begun an investigation into a new practice of random searches on Metro-North trains."
Patriot Act: Stupak explains party vote
Rep. Bart Stupak, R-Menominee, explains why he did not vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Bag searches on New York subway to begin
"Thousands of New York City's 4.5 million subway commuters will be asked to open their bags for police today as they begin the first full work week under unprecedented scrutiny designed to prevent London-style bombings." USA Today has this article.
IS THE PATRIOT ACT PATRIOTIC?
William F. Buckley Jr. has this essay contemplating the conundrums of the Patriot Act.
Library leader questions Patriot Act
Reuters has this account of comments the president of the American Library Association made about the USA Patriot Act. "I'm much too fond of Orwell to call it Orwellian, but it's Kafkaesque," Michael Gorman said.
Man awarded damages for arrest while videotaping troopers
"A man twice arrested for harassment while videotaping state police troopers as they conducted truck-safety inspections was awarded $41,000 in damages by a federal judge." AP reports here.
Judge Throws Out Deportation Case
"A judge on Thursday threw out the deportation case against four young people who were taking part in a high school science competition near the Canadian border when the government found out they were brought to the U.S. illegally as toddlers." AP reports here.
Congress Report: TSA Broke Privacy Laws
AP reports: "The Transportation Security Administration violated privacy protections by secretly collecting personal information on at least 250,000 people, congressional investigators said Friday."
Gonzales credits Patriot Act
In an appearance on CNN, Alberto Gonzales said the London and Egypt bombings made the case for the renewal of the Patriot Act and credited the legislation with the prevention of further terrorist attacks post 9-11. AP reports here.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Pressure on U.S. to Use More Surveillance
"Pressure is building for greater use of video cameras to keep watch over the nation's cities — particularly in transportation systems and other spots vulnerable to terrorism — after the bombings in London." AP reports here.
Legal Issues Being Raised on Searches in Subways
The NYTimes reports: "The decision last week to have police officers inspect the belongings of thousands of subway riders has opened a thicket of legal and constitutional issues, involving criminal procedure, transit security and concerns about potential misuse of the new tactic."
Behind-the-Scenes Battle on Tracking Data Mining
The NYTimes has this article detailing the Bush administration's opposition to an effort by Congress--by way of a provision in the Patriot Act--to monitor the use of data-mining techniques in tracking suspects in terrorism cases. "We do not want to tie the hands of our security agencies in gathering this information," Representative Howard L. Berman explained. "We simply want to provide a logical mechanism to gather the information so that the American people can feel more comfortable that what is being done is protected."
Saturday, July 23, 2005
White House Aims to Block Legislation on Detainees
"The Bush administration in recent days has been lobbying to block legislation supported by Republican senators that would bar the U.S. military from engaging in 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual." The WashPost has this article.
Government Defies an Order to Release Iraq Abuse Photos
NYTimes reports: "Lawyers for the Defense Department are refusing to cooperate with a federal judge's order to release secret photographs and videotapes related to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal."
Friday, July 22, 2005
Roberts Dissents From Gun Search Ruling
"Supreme Court nominee John Roberts sided with police but was on the losing end of an appeals court decision on whether officers were within their authority to search the trunk of a suspect's car." AP reports on Roberts' dissent in an opinion released today.
America wrestles with privacy vs. security
"The recent attacks in London by home-grown terrorists have intensified attention on homeland security in the US. And that in turn has raised new questions about protecting civil liberties and privacy during a new kind of war that knows no national borders." The Christian Science Monitor has this article.
Police Begin Checking Bags On Subways At Union Square Station
Fox23News reports: "New York City Police have begun random searches of bags and packages carried by people entering city subways."
House Votes to Extend Patriot Act
AP has this piece on the House's vote to indefinitely extend the Patriot Act.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
The Patriot Act: Alleged Abuses of the Law
"Critics of the USA Patriot Act say the law has made it too easy for law enforcement to spy on people." NPR has this report.
Sensenbrenner House Floor Statement on USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Legislation
House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) delivered the following remarks during today’s House debate on reauthorizing expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Conservative congressmen block vote on amendment to Patriot Act
Last night, "the Republican-controlled House Committee on Rules denied members of the U.S. House the opportunity to vote on critical legislation proposed by Rep. Sanders that would restore Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed right to read and access information without governmental intrusion or monitoring." Progressive U has Sanders' response.
House poised to reauthorize USA Patriot Act
"The House of Representatives, ignoring protests from civil liberties groups and some conservatives, moved on Thursday to renew the USA Patriot Act giving the government unprecedented powers to investigate suspected terrorists." Reuters reports here.
President Calls on Congress To Extend Patriot Act Provisions
The WashPost has this coverage of President Bush's visit to Baltimore yesterday to stump for the Patriot Act.
Judicial Analysis Made Easy
"Thanks to a ninth-grader at Deal Junior High School who in 2000 committed the horrifying crime of eating a fry in the Tenleytown Metro station, we have as strong a look inside Roberts's mind as we're likely to get from weeks of investigation and hearings." The Washington Post has this column about a Rutherford Institute case that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts wrote the opinion in.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
“‘The Nation's Second-Highest Court’ Upholds Military Commissions
Findlaw.com also has a commentary on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. "If the D.C. Circuit did not exactly give the President a blank check, it certainly extended him a very large line of credit."
Thank You, Mr. President: Last week, John Roberts wrote Bush a blank check.
Slate.com has this commentary regarding Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, a opinion issued last week that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts joined in, denying due process rights to anyone detained as a "terrorist."
U.S. a Battlefield, Solicitor General Tells Judges
"Solicitor General Paul D. Clement's comments came as a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is considering whether to overturn a lower court ruling that Jose Padilla should be charged with a crime or released." The WashPost has this coverage.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Groups from left, right urge open debate in Patriot Act renewal
"The ACLU and other groups - including the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Free Congress Foundation, and Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances - said in a press conference Tuesday that both versions of bills being considered in House and Senate committees are a step in the right direction. But, they said, in many instances the proposed bills do not go far enough." The Kansas City Star has this article.
Pilot Seen As Security Risk Sues U.S.
"A pilot who was deemed a potential security risk sued the U.S. government and said its refusal to let him be trained to fly bigger planes may be based on mistaken identity." AP reports here.
Bills Extend Patriot Provision
EWeek.com has this coverage of the current battle in the House and Senate over the Patriot Act.
America is safer because of The Patriot Act
"Taking the fight to the enemy is necessary but not enough; America must defend its homeland by providing federal investigators with tools to track down terrorists within our borders." U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster offers this argument for renewal of the Patriot Act.
Appeal of Detained Terrorism Suspect to Be Heard Today
The WashPost reports: "Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will convene in Richmond to consider a question with vast implications for civil liberties and the fight against terrorism: whether in the absence of criminal charges the president can indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil."
Monday, July 18, 2005
Patriot Act is Exhibit A on the risks of secrecy
"Imagine a country where the making of some laws can be done behind closed doors, where government agents can enforce laws in secret, and where the courts can accept secret evidence and compel silence about the mere existence of cases brought before them. If you find that hard to imagine in the United States of America, think harder." The First Amendment Center has this commentary.
Large Volume of F.B.I. Files Alarms U.S. Activist Groups
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected at least 3,500 pages of internal documents in the last several years on a handful of civil rights and antiwar protest groups in what the groups charge is an attempt to stifle political opposition to the Bush administration." The NYTimes has this article.
Patriot Act Challenged In Portland Courtroom
Brandon Mayfield, wrongly arrested in March 2004 following the Madrid bombings, is suing former Attorney General John Ashcroft, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. Mayfield says his Muslim faith "motivated federal agents to use the Patriot Act to violate his civil rights, including protection against illegal search and seizure." KOIN News 6 reports here.
FBI Monitored Web Sites for 2004 Protests
The WashPost reports: "FBI agents monitored Web sites calling for protests against the 2004 political conventions in New York and Boston on behalf of the bureau's counterterrorism unit, according to FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act."
Friday, July 15, 2005
Patriot Act Reforms Clash in Congress, Public
"While civil libertarians ask tough questions about just who the controversial post-9/11 legislation is aimed at, politicians in both camps introduce amendments and activists look to the grassroots." The New Standard has this article.
F.B.I. Message Says Agency Lacked Evidence in Terror Arrest
"The day before a Portland lawyer was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, an F.B.I. official stated in an e-mail message that the agency did not have enough evidence to arrest him on criminal charges. The lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, was later released, with an apology from the F.B.I." AP reports here.
McKinney Blasts Extension Of Patriot Act Provisions
"There are few things more threatening to what has become known as the 'American way of life' as the assault on our civil liberties, which is a daily agenda item for the majority in Washington, D.C.," U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) said. The Atlanta Daily World has this article.
Patriot Act reapproval likely
Newsday reports that "the Patriot Act appears to be headed for reauthorization with some new restrictions and continued 'sunsets' on a few of its most controversial sections." The House is expected to consider legislation adopted by the House Judiciary Committee next week.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
RFID Foes Find Righteous Ally
Wired reports: "Privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht, an opponent of the use of radio tags on consumer goods and in ID documents, is a woman any X-Files fan could love."
The right not to be bombed outweighs liberties, says Clarke
The UK Telegraph has this article about Britain's Home Secretary and comments he has made about the conflict between civil liberties and security
Lawmakers Agree to Renew Patriot Act
"Lawmakers on three separate Congressional committees moved Wednesday to impose restrictions on some of the more controversial elements of the law known as the USA Patriot Act, suggesting continued resistance in Congress to the idea of giving the government unchecked authority to fight terrorism." The NYTimes has this article.
Senators Propose Curbs on Patriot Act, etc.
The Washington Post reports in seperate stories: Senators Propose Curbs on Patriot Act; Muslim Lecturer Sentenced To Life; and D.C. Considering More Police Cameras.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Librarians worry about PATRIOT Act
"During a satellite interview at the American Library Association's annual conference last week, science fiction writer Ray Bradbury told his audience not to be afraid if the government comes asking for information. Instead, they should get angry, he advised. About 27,000 people attended the gathering." The Vermont Guardian has this account.
House Panel OKs Patriot Act Provisions
AP reports: "The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee approved two Democratic provisions Wednesday placing new controls over how the FBI monitors suspected terrorists under the Patriot Act."
U.S. Judge Slams New Deportation Law
"The chief judge of U.S. District Court in Boston lashed out at Congress on Tuesday for putting what he called a 'chokehold' on all federal district courts, stripping them of the authority to rule on deportation cases." AP reports here.
When Should Fourth Amendment Violations Lead to Suppression of Evidence? The Supreme Court Takes a "Knock and Announce" Case
FindLaw.com has this commentary about a case the Supreme Court recently granted review for that considers "whether evidence obtained after an illegal no-knock home entry should be admissible, across the board, on the theory that it would have been 'inevitably discovered' if police had followed the rules."
Enhanced In-Air Internet Surveillance Sought
WashPost reports: "Federal law enforcement agencies are seeking enhanced surveillance powers over Internet service on airplanes, an effort to shape an emerging technology to meet the government's concerns about terrorism."
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Boon to cops, bane of privacy groups, database search engine lives on
"When the federal government in April stopped funding a database that lets police quickly see public records and commercially collected information on Americans, privacy advocates celebrated what they saw as a victory against overzealousness in the fight against terrorism." AP reports here.
'They Put Us in a Cell and Forgot Us'
The Los Angeles Times has this article about an Iranian American filmmaker who was detained in Iraq for 54 days, but recently freed after his lawyer filed suit.
Haven for terrorists claim rejected
Financial Times reports: "Suggestions that Britain has become a haven for terrorists because of its preoccupation with civil liberties have been rejected by the government."
Pres. Bush Lobbies for Extension of Patriot Act
"THE TERRORISTS' THREATS AGAINST US WILL NOT EXPIRE AT THE END OF THIS YEAR - AND NEITHER SHOULD THE PROTECTIONS OF THE PATRIOT ACT." KSL-TV reports on Pres. Bush's call to renew the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act - hated by Terrorists, Criminals and a few Conservatives
OpinionEditorials.com contains this emotionally charged commentary that invokes the recent London bombings to appeal for renewal of the Patriot Act: "If anyone really thinks that he or she has already lost a liberty or two due to the Patriot Act, (I cannot think of one that I have personally lost) then these people had better be prepared to live under Islamic rule, because this may well happen if we do NOT renew this important law!"
House, Senate Chiefs Spar Over Patriot Act
The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., will try to push through legislation Wednesday that would eliminate all expiration dates in the Patriot Act, making the law permanent. Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., will propose keeping some of the Act's expiration dates while keeping much of the law in place. President Bush, as stalwart as ever, again demanded that the nation's lawmakers ignore the Act's original sunset provisions and keep the law wholely intact. The WashPost has this coverage.
Fairfax Sends Lawmakers Letter About Patriot Act
The WashPost reports that the two-page letter "was a compromise between doing nothing to oppose the expanded investigative powers the act grants to law enforcement agencies and adopting a resolution opposing the law."
Monday, July 11, 2005
Feds Fear Air Broadband Terror
Wired reports: "Federal law enforcement officials, fearful that terrorists will exploit emerging in-flight broadband services to remotely activate bombs or coordinate hijackings, are asking regulators for the power to begin eavesdropping on any passenger's internet use within 10 minutes of obtaining court authorization."
Criticizing Patriot Act Lands Manlin Chee, Asian American Lawyer, in Jail
Chinese American immigration attorney Manlin Chee was targeted by the FBI only weeks after she appeared on a panel attacking the Patriot Act. Some people think the two are not entirely unrelated. ZNet has this article.
Fight Over Guantánamo Prison Nears Boil, Takes Turn
The New Standard reports: "With proponents of the infamous facility flatly singing its praises, Gitmo’s critics are shifting to a sophisticated approach of opposing the concept instead of just the compound."
Interview with Senator Russ Feingold on Iraq, the Patriot Act and Tenncare
Feingold was the only senator to originally vote against the Patriot Act. He is interviewed by the Tennesee Independent Media Center here.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Despite Terror, Europeans Seem Determined to Maintain Civil Liberties
The NYTimes reports: "From the 9/11 attacks through the Madrid bombings, Europeans have refused to sacrifice civil liberties in the fight against terrorism, sharply criticizing the United States for restricting its citizens' rights for the sake of security. Even with the London attacks, there is little indication that this philosophical divide is narrowing."
Friday, July 08, 2005
Calif. Guard Probed by US
The Associated Press reports that the military has begun investigating whether a California National Guard unit, ominously called the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management, and Intelligence Fusion program, was created to spy on citizens.
SUNSET TIME FOR PATRIOT ACT
The Philadelphia Daily News has this commentary charging that the Patriot Act threatens the freedoms America was founded on.
PATRIOT ACT: Feds say banks overreport data
The New Hampshire Union Leader contains this Wall Street Journal article reporting that the "government's use of the Patriot Act to force financial institutions to report suspicious transactions has resulted in an avalanche of unwanted paper and computer tapes that officials who collect the data say is undermining efforts to detect money flowing to terrorists."
Patriot Act Remains Divisive in U.S.
Canada's Angus Reid Global Scan reports on a CNN/USA Today poll that finds that the Patriot Act continues to split the American people, with some 30% believing the Patriot Act goes too far in restricting people’s civil liberties, while 21% think it does not go far enough. 41% indicated a satisfaction with its reach.
Festa calls on Congress to curb Patriot Act
"State Rep. Mike Festa, D-Melrose, testified in favor of legislation that would call on our congressmen to vote to curb the powers granted to the federal government by the Patriot Act." Massachusetts' Wakefield Observer reports here.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Who's Watching the Watch List?
"Heading for Oakland from Seattle to see my grandkids last week, the Alaska Airline check-in machine refused to give me a boarding pass. Directed to the ticket counter, I gave the agent my driver's license and watched her punch keys at her computer. Frowning, she told me that my name was on the national terrorist No Fly Watch List and that I had to be specially cleared to board a plane." Common Dreams has this article.
Civil liberties group wants city cops investigated
"The Alberta Civil Liberties Association is demanding an investigation into allegations Edmonton police officers misused a database to look up private information on their critics." The Edmontun Sun reports.
Protesters challenge sections of Patriot Act provisions set to expire
Louisville's Courier Journal reports: "Controversial sections of the Patriot Act that will expire on Dec. 31 should be revised or allowed to die, members of three local groups said yesterday during a rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Park."
U.S. Asks Panel to Remove Judge in Terror Case
"Government prosecutors have asked a federal appeals court to remove Southern District of New York Judge Shira Scheindlin from the perjury case of a San Diego college student who allegedly lied about knowing one of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers." Law.com has this article.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
XML/RSS Feed Changing
Editor's note: The Operation Eroding Freedom XML/RSS feed currently located at http://www.rutherford.org/ErodingFreedom/atom.xml will be moving back to http://www.rutherford.org/atom.xml by the end of the workday, July 6, 20005. Please send any related questions or comments to jaysonw@rutherford.org.
Federal Government Increasingly Classifies Documents
"The federal government reports that the number of documents being classified jumped 10% last year to 15.6 million, driven largely by military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan." AP reports here.
The president as head teacher
"I admire the president's vision of the Liberty Bell of democracy ringing in other lands. But when it comes to our own civil liberties — to borrow a line from Robert Frost — he is 'a light ... to no one but himself.'" Nat Hentoff has this commentary.
From Filmmaker in Los Angeles to Iraq Detainee
"Since then, Mr. Kar has been held in what his relatives and their lawyers describe as a frightening netherworld of American military detention in Iraq - charged with no crime but nonetheless unable to gain his freedom or even tell his family where he is being held." The NYTimes has this tale of an American being held in Iraq.
Military Expands Homeland Efforts
The WashPost reports: "A new Pentagon strategy for securing the U.S. homeland calls for expanded U.S. military activity not only in the air and sea -- where the armed forces have historically guarded approaches to the country -- but also on the ground and in other less traditional, potentially more problematic areas such as intelligence sharing with civilian law enforcement."
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Honored librarian speaks against Patriot Act
The Oregon Daily Emerald reports: "Librarian activist Zoia Horn spoke about her efforts to advocate on behalf of intellectual rights during a speech entitled 'From the Harrisburg Seven to the Patriot Act' on Thursday morning in the Knight Library Browsing Room."
“Indefinite Detentions” on the Fourth
"For the fourth Fourth of July in a row, America in 2005 has persons incarcerated under the pretense of the 'war on terror,' jailed without being allowed to see lawyers, without being allowed to see their own families for most of the time, and without being told the charges against them." The Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel has this commentary.
In another time of war, Minnesota suspended civil liberties
"It was 88 years ago when this country entered World War I, a conflict far more unpopular than the current war in Iraq. Then, as now, officials worried how the country could protect itself at home, and how many civil liberties should be restricted in the interest of national security. The reaction by Minnesota officials was extreme." Minnesota Public Radio reports.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Patriotism vs. the USA Patriot Act
"Patriotic Americans have a lot at stake this Fourth of July. After the glare of fireworks has faded, the true test of American patriotism moves to Congress, where both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will prepare to debate the fate of the USA Patriot Act." Dorothy M. Ehrlich, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, has this op-ed.
County commission cites Patriot Act concerns
Central New Jersey's Home News Tribune is reporting that the "Middlesex County Human Relations Commission is joining the growing list of communities and legislators from around the country taking a stance against the USA Patriot Act."
Patriot Misfire
"THE VOTE BY the House of Representatives last month to block use of a provision of the USA Patriot Act against libraries and bookstores sends a powerful message of bipartisan anxiety about the Bush administration's approach to terrorism. Unfortunately, that message is something of a misfire." The WashPost issued this editorial.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Red-Light Cameras Stop Rolling in N.Va.
"At midnight Thursday, the last of 38 cameras in six Northern Virginia jurisdictions were switched off, ending a 10-year experiment that allowed them to photograph what amounted to hundreds of thousands of vehicles running red lights. Such cameras are still used in the District and Maryland." The Washington Post has this article.
Patriot Act targeted; City asked to stand up for Muslim rights
The Davis Enterprise reports: "Local activist Hamza El-Nakhal had a request for the Davis City Council recently: Consider the arrests of three Muslims in Lodi as one reason to oppose, once again, the federal Patriot Act."
Increase in the Number of Documents Classified by the Government
"Driven in part by fears of terrorism, government secrecy has reached a historic high by several measures, with federal departments classifying documents at the rate of 125 a minute as they create new categories of semi-secrets bearing vague labels like 'sensitive security information.'" The NYTimes reports here.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Feds Push for Full Renewal of Patriot Act
ZDNet reports that "U.S. Justice Department officials sparred with critics of the Patriot Act on Thursday in a debate over whether the expiring portions of the law should be renewed at the end of the year."
Bill of Rights Doesn't Jibe with Reality
"We hardly even call it Independence Day anymore. Instead, it's the Fourth of July, celebrated with a day off work and summer clearance sales at the mall. But Independence Day is also a good time to reflect on the freedoms upon which our great nation was founded and to see just how far we've come in the intervening 229 years." The Tallahassee Democrat has this editorial by Nancy Cook Lauer.
