Judge Audrey B. Collins, United States District Court for the Central District of California, ruled a section of the Patriot Act unconstitutional on January 25. >li>”The USA Patriot Act places no limitation on the type of expert advice and assistance which is prohibited and instead bans the provision of all expert advice and assistance regardless… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
Key Provisions of Patriot Act Will Sunset in 2005
Bush wants Patriot Act renewed. January 20, 2004 State of the Union Address by President Bush (pdf) Patriot Act Comes Into Play – President urges renewal, while amendments languish in Congress beSpacific postings on Patriot Act Continue Reading
Opposition to Patriot Act by Local Goverments Continues Unabated
Cities in revolt over Patriot Act Community Resolutions Condemning the Patriot Act Continue Reading
National League of Cities Resolution on Patriot Act
Amend PATRIOT Act Urges National League of Cities: “Portions of the USA PATRIOT Act compromise the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and should be amended, says a resolution recently passed by the National League of Cities at its annual meeting. The resolution says that while the National League of Cities believes that efforts to… Continue Reading
Academic Freedom Post 9/11
The American Association of University Professors recently published a report, Academic Freedom and National Security in a Time of Crisis: “The report focuses first on the USA Patriot Act, especially on provisions of this hastily enacted law that gravely threaten academic freedom. The report addresses broad areas of concern, such as the ominous mingling of… Continue Reading
Former DOJ Officials Question Aspects of Patriot Act
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns: “Detaining citizens as ‘enemy combatants’ — a policy not spelled out in the act — is flawed, the legal scholar says.” From the LA Times, reg. req’d. Continue Reading
Intelligence Appropriations Grants FBI Wider Access to Financial Data
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate), (H.R. 2417). Senate agreed to conference report by voice vote, November 21. The conference report, H. Rept. 108-381, was approved by the House, by a vote of 264-163, on November 20. The specific provision that is the focus of concern is… Continue Reading
Coalition of Booksellers, Publishers and Librarians Files Brief Challenging Patriot Act
“On November 3, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and free speech groups representing librarians, publishers, writers and others filed a brief [in support of the ACLU’s complaint filed July 30] that strongly supports a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the provision of the USA Patriot Act that gives the FBI virtually unlimited… Continue Reading
Growing Influence of Librarians in Debate on Patriot Act
From Page One of today’s WSJ, an article titled, Patriot Act Riles An Unlikely Group: Nation’s Librarians– [subtitled] Fears About Terrorism Clash With Principles of Privacy As Online Searches Surge: “The Patriot Act has generated protests from the left and the right since it passed, almost unanimously, six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.… Continue Reading
House Bill to Amend Patriot Act Joins Companion Senate Bill
The House version of the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003 (SAFE) Act, introduced October 21, H.R. 3352, mirrors the companion Senate version (S. 1709, introduced October 2), but it modifies the definition of domestic terrorism to “involve acts dangerous to human life,” thereby excluding political protests. Continue Reading
Second Anniversary of Patriot Act on October 26
Press release from the website of Sen. Russ Feingold: “October 26 marks the second anniversary of the enactment of the USA-PATRIOT Act. I was the only Senator to vote against the Act at the time because I believe that it goes too far in allowing the government to obtain personal information about law-abiding Americans who… Continue Reading
Congressional Reactions to Growing Criticism of Patriot Act
Patriot Act Misunderstood, Senators Say: “Even as some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said they want to see elements of the Patriot Act modified, others contended that some of the attacks on the anti-terrorism legislation have been unfair.” “The Justice Department’s push to defend the Patriot Act was in full swing Tuesday as senior… Continue Reading
