[iwar] [fc:The.Constitutional.Implications.of.the.USA.PATRIOT.Act]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-06-15 15:31:06
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:The.Constitutional.Implications.of.the.USA.PATRIOT.Act]
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Jennifer Van Bergen
9/11and Public Safety Conference Seeking
Answers and Accountability

The Constitutional Implications of the USA PATRIOT Act

Friday, 14 June, 2002

The following is a speech addressing the constitutional implications of the
USA PATRIOT Act, given on June 10 by Truthout contributing writer Jennifer
Van Bergen via telephone-conference at the "9/11and Public Safety Conference
Seeking Answers and Accountability" in Washington, D.C. at the National
Press Club.

The conference was organized by investigative journalists Kyle Hence and Tom
Flocco. Other speakers included Mary Schiavo, Esq., attorney for 32
passengers' families from all 9/11 hijacked planes and former Inspector
General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation; Lorna Brett, Director of Media
Relations at Nolan Law Group and representing 9/11 families on United
Airlines hijacked planes; Julie Sweeney, Ryan Amundson, and Derrill Bodley,
family members of killed passengers; Michael Ruppert, editor of From the
Wilderness Pubns.; investigative journalists Jared Israel, Tom Flocco; Dr.
Steve Camarato from Center for Immigration Studies, and J. Michael
Springman, former Visa Chief at the U.S. Saudi Embassy in Jhedda. Catherine
Austin Fitts, former Assistant Secretary of Housing during the first Bush
Administration, was the moderator.

Topics covered (other than the PATRIOT Act) were FAA accountability and
airline safety, the historical and geo-strategic context of U.S. military,
intelligence, and corporate operations in the Caspian Sea Basin, insider
trading immediately preceding 9/11, immigration and terrorism, and the CIA
and terrorism.

 

"On October 24, 2001, Congress passed a new set of antiterrorism laws called
the USA PATRIOT Act (short for "Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism").

The PATRIOT Act largely builds on and expands existing laws, giving federal
law enforcement agencies greater intelligence gathering powers.

In the wake of 9/11, it may seem reasonable to grant government agencies
these expanded powers.

However, it is important to note that there was never any showing by the
Department of Justice, by the Administration, or by intelligence agencies,
that the previous laws were in any way inadequate.

In fact, it now appears that 9/11 was not prevented not because of
inadequate antiterrorism laws, but because of intelligence agencies' own
internal procedural failures.

In terms of legal procedure, basic criminal procedure laws have been shown
to work quite well in terrorism cases.

The PATRIOT Act does not, therefore, help us to fight terrorism better.

What it does do is:

Increases the administrative burden on already-overburdened intelligence
agencies, making terrorism even harder for them to fight.

Intrudes upon many of our hard-won civil liberties - liberties which many of
our ancestors fought and died for.

It also upsets the balance of powers in our government, putting
unnecessarily greater power in the hands of the Executive, and brings us one
step closer to what a colleague of mine calls "the National Security States
of America."

The Patriot Act is a complicated law. Let me set forth the most worrisome
provisions in it.

Specifically, the Patriot Act:

Allows the government to enter and search your home, without ever informing
you. The U.S. Constitution requires not only probable cause to search, but
that you be notified of the search. This law- Section 213 of the Patriot Act
-- circumvents the notice requirement of the 4th Amendment.

Section 216 of the PATRIOT ACT allows the government to tap your phone and
computer without probable cause. Under this section, a judge MUST rubber
stamp a warrant as long as law enforcement certifies that the surveillance
is "relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation." No probable cause of
criminal activity is required to issue the warrant. This violates the
probable cause provision of the 4th Amendment.

Further, Section 218 allows the government to carry out secret searches and
wiretaps without showing probable cause merely by certifying that there is a
"significant" foreign intelligence purpose. This also evades the 4th
Amendment.

Section 802 creates the crime of "domestic terrorism." This criminalizes
acts that "appear to be intended" to "influence the policy of the government
by intimidation or coercion" or to "intimidate or coerce a civilian
population." This section would make just about any act of civil
disobedience in protest against government policies into an act of domestic
terrorism.

Section 411 in tandem with section 802, expands the power of government to
designate a group a "foreign terrorist organization." Any group which
endorses so-called "terrorist activity," which under 802 may be otherwise
lawful protest activity, can be designated a terrorist organization. This
would enable government to designate such groups as the protestors at
Vieques, Puerto Rico, or those against the World Trade Organization.

Section 411 also allows the government to indict anyone who provides
material support or assistance to a terrorist organization. If you provided
humanitarian or medical assistance to the Northern Alliance - foes of bin
Laden - you could be arrested for supporting terrorism.

Finally, Section 412 of the PATRIOT Act permits the government to arrest and
detain immigrants indefinitely for nothing more than a visa violation. In
fact, of the 1200 known immigrant detentions since 9/11, the ACLU determined
that only about five were detained on terrorism-related charges. Because the
Department of Justice refused to release any information, the ACLU obtained
this information from foreign embassies to whom the DOJ had courteously
supplied the information where it affected one of their citizens.

Thus, what is too sensitive to show to Americans, the Department of Justice
has no problem revealing to Islamic nations.

James Madison wrote in 1822, that "a popular government, without popular
information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a
tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a
people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power
which knowledge gives."

Our government has enacted bad legislation. Let's make sure this legislation
doesn't lead to another tragedy."

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