The American Society of Newspaper Editors recently issued a memo, The Effect of Patriot Act II on Newspapers. It focuses on three areas in which the proposed draft legislation would impact First Amendment rights: “(1) Increased surveillance authority that might chill speech, especially political dissent; (2) Increased restrictions on access to government information, either generally… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Report
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a report yesterday, highly critical of the FBI, that identified serious problems impacting the FISA process: FBI Oversight in the 107th Congress by the Senate Judiciary Committee: FISA Implementation Failures – An Interim Report. Senators Release Committee Report on FISA Implementation Failures and… Continue Reading
Commentary on the Patriot Act II
Washington Times columnist Nat Hentoff delivers a pointed commentary on the “sequel to the Patriot Act…. an assault on the Bill of Rights drafted without consultation with Congress.” Continue Reading
Librarians and the Patriot Act
For librarians around the country, concerns about the Patriot Act and patron privacy rights have only increased in the wake of recent news about the administration’s proposed Patriot II legislative initiative. From Sunday’s Ohio Toledo Blade, this article, Libraries fear loss of privacy as FBI searches for terrorists, illustrates the conflicting positions at issue involving… Continue Reading
Book Store Protects Customer Sales Records
A book shop is Montpelier Vermont, Bear Pond Books, instituted a policy to purge the records of customer purchases upon their request. This action was taken in response to provisions of the Patriot Act that allow the government to force disclosure of customer buying records as part of their effort to “enhance domestic security against… Continue Reading
Commentary on Patriot II
Professor Anita Ramasastry of the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle has published a commentary worth review, Patriot II: The Sequel Why It’s Even Scarier than the First Patriot Act. See my previous postings here and here on this controversial draft legislation that was leaked even before it was made available to members… Continue Reading
Appeal to Supreme Court on Gov't Surveillance
The ACLU, on behalf of a group of civil liberties organizations and several Arab-American organizations, filed an appeal (PDF) with the Supreme Court on February 18 in re: The Sealed Case of the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review (FISA) (PDF) decided November 18, 2002. This controversial decision, the first in the history of FISA, gave… Continue Reading
Draft of New Patriot Act Legislation
The advocacy group Public Integrity issued a press release on February 7 detailing their research on a previously secret 120 page draft of what is being called the “Patriot Act II” legislation, which apparently has not been shared with the House Judiciary Committee. This draft was written by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft.… Continue Reading
Electronic Data Collection on Transporation Manifests
In a post on January 6, 2003 I noted a proposed rule from DOJ that would subject transportation manifests to electronic monitoring. On February 3, EPIC filed comments on the privacy implications of this rule with the INS. For the first time, data would be collected electronically on all U.S. and non-U.S. residents. Continue Reading
Editorial on Libraries and Patriot Act
Privacy and Security, A librarian’s dilemma, addresses the challenges faced by public librarians post 9/11 who are committed both to the country’s safety and security, as well as to their patron’s right to privacy. Law professor and library law expert Mary Minow states the issue succinctly: “How do we make sure we protect the privacy… Continue Reading
Patriot Act and Libraries
Safeguarding Our Patrons’ Privacy: What Every Librarian Needs to Know about the USA PATRIOT Act & Related Anti-Terrorism Measures, videotape (120 minutes) and manual (27 pp.), published December 2002, are available for $35 from the Association of Research Libraries. Continue Reading
ALA Opposes Patriot Act
The American Library Association (ALA) issued a resolution on the Patriot Act that states the organization “considers sections of the act a president danger to the constitution and privacy rights of library users. It not only encourages librarians to defend user privacy, it also asks ALA to take action to obtain and publicize information about… Continue Reading
