Posted on 04/05/2005 6:28:38 PM PDT by tomball
WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday asked lawmakers to expand the bureau’s ability to obtain records without first asking a judge, and he joined Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in seeking that every temporary provision of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act be renewed.
He also asked Congress to expand the FBI’s administrative subpoena powers, which allow the bureau to obtain records without approval or a judge or grand jury.
"For many years, the FBI has had administrative subpoena authority for investigations of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to health care fraud to child exploitation," he stated. "Yet, when it comes to terrorism investigations, the FBI has no such authority."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
how strong of a 4th amendment right do you want the liberal courts giving to terror suspects? every decision the judiciary makes is arbitrary, you folks act as if they are some supreme authority that is infallible. get a decent judge who makes an intelligent decision, and the system works fine. get a liberal kook on the bench who decides that protecting the rights of some domestic terror suspect regarding searches, wiretaps, etc, is the most important thing they can do - and planes start blowing up.
make your choice.
Want more power...go to China and become one of their security troops..
You are correct.. but for what you wish to happen,
we, as a nation, would have to think inside the box
I.E. we would address the original problem..
and then constitutionally expect that all would move forward from there... but the problem is that we have already been infiltrated/corrupted by electronics!
Agree. The judges issue has lit a fuse.
"Do either of you...in fact ANYBODY here on Free Republic...personally know any innocent American citizen who's had their civil rights impugned by the Patriot Act?"
How would you know when they can call you a terrorist and hold you incommunicado for as long as they like? Does this sound like America to you?
This is creeping authoritarianism.
This has to stop.
Stop letting these whackos in the country, leave my rights alone.
Think carefully before answering. Answering "yes" might be a violation.
I agree with your previous post - vote the rascals out.
The legislature is closest to the people, and the legislature has the constitutional power to control the other two branches. It can write legislation to rein in and direct the executive and judiciary and it can also impeach. And most important, the legislature controls the purse strings.
If 10 or so Marxist/socialists can be voted out of the legislature each election cycle, we should see constitutional government making a comeback in about 20 years.
For your edification:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
I think your labeling of 'creeping authoritarianism' could be accepted as an apt description. On the other hand I think the proposed provisions could in fact be the ones that prevent a terrorist from setting off a nuke in downtown Chicago. This issue obviously needs to be examined very carefully by Congress and this is a situation where they should nit-pick at each proposal.
Director Mueller stated, "For many years, the FBI has had administrative subpoena authority for investigations of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to health care fraud to child exploitation," he stated. "Yet, when it comes to terrorism investigations, the FBI has no such authority." IF this is the case, and I'm not privy to the existing laws, then I think he makes a good case to expand those powers to include terrorism.
and what is the definition of terrorism?
have you heard of these agency chiefs speak of "domestic terrorism"? you would be really surprised at who that includes - it aint just muslim extremists. it's whoever thy want it to be.
I don't trust an FBI that is seeking to take away any powers of free speech you may have. For crying out loud, they don't even want you to have an attorney.
I want a real judge to hold every warrant request to the highest standards. No paid snitches with a financial interest in provding the "right" testimony. No warrants without corroboration. A skeptical view of every self-serving statement by LEOs. Make the witness swear an oath in front of the judge. Prosecute ALL bad witnesses in defective warrant cases for perjury. Getting a warrant should be an adversarial process, not a rubber stamp, which it is today.
This applies to all cases. If you want to make an exception for a handful of national security cases, fine. But only a handful, and no leakage into the protections for normal internal matters.
Oh baloney. Make 'em earn it. They don't, and they don't care. They can all go to hell in a can of anthrax.
"For many years, the FBI has had administrative subpoena authority..."
"Administrative subpoena authority" is the antithesis of a 3 branch republic. In an earlier age it was known as a "Writ of Assistance."
The ghost of King George is back.
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