Free Republic

Why do Democrats in Congress want to change key laws that have helped to discover terrorist plots? One would think that the arrests of Najibullah Zazi...and of two others charged with planning to blow up buildings in Dallas, Texas, and Springfield, Ill.—would generate support for the intelligence-gathering tools that protect this country from Muslim fanatics. In Mr. Zazi's case, the government has already confirmed the value of these tools: It has filed a notice of its intent to use information gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was specifically written to help combat terrorists and spies. Nevertheless, there is...

Pardons for this vanity, but I thought this would be the best place to ask for help. I will be doing an essay on the Patriot Act for school. I chose the topic and need to do research, get many sources, present both sides, and make a convincing argument for my side (pro). No, I'm not asking anyone to do this for me. But if you have any sources, advice, anything, it'd be much appreciated. The paper itself is not due till the middle of April, but I want to get started in plenty of time and we have various...

With the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act by Congress this past March, local libraries find themselves again confronted with having to balance the public’s privacy rights with the potential practice by federal authorities of section 215 of the anti-terrorism bill. Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, allows the FBI to obtain any tangible things such as records or books, and other relevant material, from any entity without having to show probable cause that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity. Additionally, those served with Section 215 orders to turn over any relevant material are...

The USA PATRIOT Act and Finance: The Hidden Threat source: http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=289 . February 22, 2006 by Gary D. Barnett Gary Barnett is president of Barnett Financial Services, Inc., in Missoula, Montana. After 18 years in the investment business, a time I might add that has been rewarding in many ways, I am now truly questioning whether I should stay in this profession. It just isn't any fun anymore. When it actually stopped being fun is hard to pinpoint, but why it stopped is not. Although we in this industry have always been regulated, or shall I say controlled, by Big...

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to end a filibuster and moved closer to renewal of the USA Patriot Act. Senators voted 96-3 Thursday to stop debate regarding a compromise on the Patriot Act. All three of the senators who voted to keep debate going were Democrats ... Some aspects of the act were to expire at the end of 2005 but the White House sought to make the bill permanent. Congress gave the act short extensions, the most recent of which will end March 10.

Harlingen, Texas, January 26, 2006: Seldom does a week pass in the USA without another media report about the American Civil Liberties Union filing suit against the government. It is forever filing action against some municipality displaying what the accuser deems an unacceptable symbol or a claimed unconstitutional position. Even yesterday, the New York Times reported that the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit “seeking to strike down a clause of the USA Patriot Act that bans foreigners who endorse terrorist activity from traveling in this country.” Yesterday CNSNews.com and most major media outlets also reported on an ACLU intervention in...

Contact: Tracey Schmitt 202-863-8614  WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee today unveiled a new television advertisement targeting the Harry Reid-led Democrat obstruction of the PATRIOT Act. The advertisement, entitled “The PATRIOT Act: Connecting The Dots,” will begin airing on national cable and local Las Vegas television stations this weekend. The ad will also be emailed to Republican grassroots supporters and is available for viewing now at www.GOP.com Republican National Committee:60 Advertisement“The PATRIOT Act: Connecting The Dots”  VIDEO AUDIO  Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)December 16, 2005When Law Enforcement And Intelligence Agencies Cannot Communicate9/11/01Our Security Is ThreatenedThe PATRIOT Act Connects The Dots“It’s Important We...

Op-Ed Contributor YESTERDAY the Senate failed to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, as a Democratic-led filibuster prevented a vote. This action - which leaves the act, key elements of which are due to expire on Dec. 31, in limbo - represents a grave potential threat to the nation's security. I support the extension of the Patriot Act for one simple reason: Americans must use every legal and constitutional tool in their arsenal to fight terrorism and protect their lives and liberties. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made clear that the old rules no longer work. The terrorists who attacked...

The Christian Defense Coalition Director says in many cases "national security" has become more important than protecting the First Amendment and civil liberties. Coalition especially concerned about the Patriot Act defining terrorism as "... .to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion." Those definitions are so broad it is an open invitation for the government to harass and attack any groups who use public demonstrations or peaceful civil disobedience to "influence" government policy. Organization cites the improper use of the federal RICO laws against non-violent pro-life activists as a clear example of how the Patriot Act could...

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists inspired by hatred murdered nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. In response, Congress overwhelmingly passed the USA Patriot Act. Now, before it adjourns for the year, Congress must act again to reauthorize this critical piece of legislation. Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are at work: Their stated goal is to kill Americans, cripple our economy and demoralize our people. The bill to be considered this week is a good one. It equips law enforcement with the tools needed to fight terrorists, and it also includes new civil liberties protections. Members of Congress should put aside the...

THIS WEEK, Congress considers legislation extending the implementation of the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Understandably, the debate surrounding the bill is fraught with emotion.At issue, however, is whether the proposed changes take appropriate steps to protect the civil liberties of innocent Americans. I believe they do not. Given the importance of these individual freedoms, I cannot support the bill in its current form.Ultimately, this debate is about police powers — powers granted by the people to government — and the balance we strike between these forceful tools and the rights of individuals.Provisions written into the Constitution and in laws are designed...

March 24, 2005 -- A New Jersey man accused of pointing a laser at an airplane, temporarily blinding the pilot and co-pilot, was indicted yesterday under an anti-terror law. David Banach also was accused of lying to the FBI about the Dec. 29 incident, in which a small passenger jet's windshield and cabin were hit three times by a green laser as the plane readied to land at Teterboro Airport. The charges in the three-count federal indictment were similar to those filed against Banach in a complaint by the FBI in January. The indictment, handed up by a grand jury...

The American Civil Liberties Union has been spinning its victory in a federal court in New York this week as a blow against the USA Patriot Act. One typical headline: "Federal Judge Calls Patriot Act Secret Searches Unconstitutional." An ACLU press release hails the decision as "a landmark victory against the Ashcroft Justice Department." ...No. If reporters had bothered to read Judge Victor Marrero's decision, they would have learned that the law he actually struck down was a provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Section 2709 authorizes the FBI to issue "National Security Letters" to obtain information...

Washington-Congress has no plans this year to give an early renewal of key parts of the controversial USA Patriot Act. But the lawmakers could be thrust into another battle over the boundaries of executive power in the war on terrorism depending on the outcome of three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court this month. The Patriot Act contains a sunset clause that would terminate new or expanded law enforcement/intelligence powers in 14 provisions of the law as of Dec. 31, 2005. Despite the Bush administration's call to make those provisions permanent and to do it quickly, lawmakers are unlikely to...

VIRGINIA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION P. O. BOX 663 LYNCHBURG, VA 24505 - 30 years in the cause of freedom - FROM: Kenneth White, President (Residence) 93 Shields Gap Rd. Roseland, VA 22967 Tel./FAX No.: 434 277-5255 E-mail: KWhite9472@aol.com -------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/23/03 --------------------------------------------------- TAXPAYERS SAY ASHCROFT KO'd ON PATRIOT ACT The Virginia Taxpayers Association said today "the stunning 309-118 House vote Tuesday passing an appropriations amendment stripping the USA Patriot Act of one of its most tyrannical provisions was a sharp rebuke to Attorney General John Ashcroft." The House voted to strike a section of the act allowing government agents...

The ALA Library: Terrorist Sanctuary By Paul Walfield FrontPageMagazine.com | May 8, 2003 The American Library Association has signed up for battle in the War on Terrorism; unfortunately, it has signed up to fight the Bush Administration and the USA PATRIOT Act. Siding with civil libertarians against public safety is just the ALA’s most recent leftist act of political defiance. However, this is their most corrosive stance for the well-being of all Americans, undermining and sabotaging public efforts to stave off terrorism..

The ALA Library: Terrorist SanctuaryBy Paul WalfieldFrontPageMagazine.com | May 8, 2003 The American Library Association has signed up for battle in the War on Terrorism; unfortunately, it has signed up to fight the Bush Administration and the USA PATRIOT Act. Siding with civil libertarians against public safety is just the ALA’s most recent leftist act of political defiance. However, this is their most corrosive stance for the well-being of all Americans, undermining and sabotaging public efforts to stave off terrorism..Part of the war on terror is learning how America’s enemies work. It was found that terrorists like to use computer...

Federal Failure by DesignLawmakers Give Terrorists a Pass September 11, 2002 by John Gaver   It has now been a year since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.  In that time, our military has performed admirably, in rooting out known terrorists from their caves and hideouts.  President Bush and Congress have now had plenty of time to take effective legislative action against the terrorists.  Yet, as this anniversary date arrives, we find that our elected lawmakers have done little on the legislative front, that will aid in the War on Terrorism.In the intervening year, President...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A secret appellate court has met for the first time in its 24-year history to consider a request from the Justice Department for more power to wiretap suspected terrorists and spies, according to department officials. The appeals court, the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, convened in a high-security room at the Justice Department in Washington Monday and made no announcement of whether it had made a decision. But senators immediately asked the court to publicly release its decision and the arguments Justice Department lawyers made in front of it, so lawmakers can know how...

<p>Washington -- The Justice Department has rebuffed congressional efforts to check up on its use of new anti-terrorism powers in the latest confrontation over Bush administration information sought by Congress.</p> <p>Instead of answering questions from the House Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said in a letter that it would send replies to the House Intelligence Committee, which has not even sought the information on the USA Patriot Act.</p>

<p>The FBI this weekend raided the homes of the two online vandals known as the Deceptive Duo and confiscated their computers, according to a friend of the teens.</p> <p>The Duo -- Robert Lyttle, known online as Pimpshiz, and The-Rev -- defaced numerous government and private industry Web sites over the past few weeks in a spree that they claimed was driven by patriotism.</p>

Americans are a liberty-loving people. Our earliest national motto was Don't Tread on Me. Even after a sickening terrorist attack, we resist national identity cards. Yet we face an ever escalating assault on our privacy and liberty by both Big Brother and big business. And some of our most libertarian instincts turn our to be perverse in their effect. Business routinely misuses financial, medical, consumer, and credit records for marketing purposes. Our health records are supposedly personal and confidential. In theory, insurers get access to these records only to pay claims. But they are also useful commercial data. The Wall...

Panel Faults Restrictions Imposed Since Sept. 11 – Critical of USA Patriot Act Joe Geshwiler – Staff Thursday, April 4, 2002 A panel that spanned a range of opinions from U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) to ACLU President Nadine Strossen --- with authorities on law enforcement and the media in between --- Wednesday condemned legal restrictions adopted by the Bush administration and Congress after Sept. 11. In a forum at the Richard B. Russell Building sponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the Federal Bar Association, panelists were unanimous in saying steps taken in the name of protecting Americans from terrorists...

Most Far-Reaching Gag Order In 1st Amend. History?Hentoff: Press Must Address Book-Reading Threat By Nat Hentoff Commentary John Ashcroft's war on terrorism includes the most far-reaching gag order in First Amendment history -- preventing the press from reporting on the FBI's seizure of the lists of books bought or borrowed in bookstores and libraries by noncitizens and citizens suspected of terrorist activities. Under the omnibus USA Patriot Act, the FBI has the authority to get an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court -- a secret body composed of rotating federal judges -- to seek "any tangible things (including books,...