Posted on 09/15/2003 4:16:04 PM PDT by Brian S
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:43:50 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Attorney General John Ashcroft denounced as "hysteria" the contention by some librarians and civil liberties groups that the FBI can use a new anti-terror law to snoop into Americans' reading habits.
In a speech Monday to an American Restaurant Association conference, Ashcroft said people are being wrongly led to believe that libraries have been "surrounded by the FBI," with agents "dressed in raincoats, dark suits and sunglasses. They stop everyone and interrogate everyone like Joe Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Not exactly - I first made a statement, and then in light of the document I referenced in my statement I asked the question (STILL posted above): "so where does this tale originate?"
You answered my question, and answered it quite satisfsctority. THAT's where we stand at the moment.
Myth:The ACLU claims that the Patriot Act provision about delayed notification search warrants "would allow law enforcement agencies to delay giving notice when they conduct a search. . . . This provision would mark a sea change in the way search warrants are executed in the United States." (ACLU, October 23, 2001)
Reality:
Delayed notification search warrants are a long-existing, crime-fighting tool upheld by courts nationwide for decades in organized crime, drug cases and child pornography.
The Patriot Act simply codified the authority law enforcement had already had for decades.
This tool is a vital aspect of our strategy of prevention -- detecting and incapacitating terrorists before they are able to strike.
In some cases if criminals are tipped off too early to an investigation, they might flee, destroy evidence, intimidate or kill witnesses, cut off contact with associates, or take other action to evade arrest. Therefore, federal courts in narrow circumstances long have allowed law enforcement to delay for a limited time when the subject is told that a judicially-approved search warrant has been executed. This tool can be used only with a court order, in extremely narrow circumstances when immediate notification may result in death or physical harm to an individual, flight from prosecution, evidence tampering, witness intimidation, or serious jeopardy to an investigation. The reasonable delay gives law enforcement time to identify the criminal?s associates, eliminate immediate threats to our communities, and coordinate the arrests of multiple individuals without tipping them off beforehand. In all cases, law enforcement must give notice that property has been searched or seized.
The Supreme Court has held the Fourth Amendment does not require law enforcement to give immediate notice of the execution of a search warrant. The Supreme Court emphasized "that covert entries are constitutional in some circumstances, at least if they are made pursuant to a warrant.? In fact, the Court stated that an argument to the contrary was "frivolous.? Dalia v. U.S., 441 U.S. 238 (1979)
The meth lab claim was made to the Governor of Texas to get legal justification for using the National Guard assts as part of the "War" on Drugs.
Iy being illegal otherwide use the military in ordinary law enforcement, how else do you think the ATF got the use of the ANG helicopters?
Going to Congress to get greater powers and then claiming that there is nothing new after getting the greater powers is contradictory to say the least.
I hope that a future Congress will correct these excesses.
The real reasons the 911 terrorists were not caught had nothing to do with the lack of Patriot Act powers.
It had to do with the State Department issuing visas to people who did not even fill out the proper papers, the Immigration and Naturalization Service allowing these terrorists people into the US without the proper documents and not deporting them after their phony visas had expired, the FBI and the CIA ignoring all the reports from informants and agents about the terrorists using flight schools, interagency infighting, etc.
Did any heads roll in the above agencies? Or do we still have the same old incompentent leaders in charge?
I really need to 'see' a document showing that, otherwise, that facet can't really be depended on to be 'fact' (literally: factual, without doubt, 'proof positive'), otherwise, like so much else surrounding Waco on dozens of websites it's just so much hearsay without basis in fact ...
It's certainly is a change of pace to see the actual text of the Patriot Act on a thread about the Patriot Act. Great link.
Most websites as mentioned in many FR threads, usually show ACLU interpretations only and the websites that do have a link, the link they provide is usually broken, or very slow to load or lost and unrecognizable in a bunch of ACLU interpretations.
Freedom is thinking for ones self.
No, ahh .. to me it looks like decided case law:
The Supreme Court has held the Fourth Amendment does not require law enforcement to give immediate notice of the execution of a search warrant. The Supreme Court emphasized "that covert entries are constitutional in some circumstances, at least if they are made pursuant to a warrant.? In fact, the Court stated that an argument to the contrary was "frivolous.? Dalia v. U.S., 441 U.S. 238 (1979)You guys REALLY need to at least BROWSE what I post or get *flattened* in the 'cross' (literally: cross examination) during Q and A!
Hear hear!
Ashcroft is right this time, er ah almost right. They hire criminal justice majors to do the snooping. These are a lot cheaper and less conspicious. Its been going on since the 80's that I am aware of.
The feds don't care about checking out books on Islam. They care about things that terrorists can use to plan attacks. See the science and technology floor of your local university library. The public libraries have little of value in this area.
Another hot area is corporate libraries of firms that do weapons work.
It's like saying that the rainfall in Southern California is the same as the rainfall in South Florida, just because it rains in both areas.
There was some "rainfall" [delayed-notification warrants] before the Patriot Act; the ACLU contents that the "rainfall" has increased after the Patriot Act and will continue to increase.
By Ashcroft claiming that it "rains" in both Southern California and South Florida, he is fogging the issue. He needs to provide statistics showing the number of delayed-notification of search warrants before PA-1 and after PA-1, and the "crimes" involved in those delayed-notification warrants.
Then after an unbiased party analyzes the data and publishes the results, I will decide whether there is a sea change in the way that search warrants are being used in this country after PA-1
I've stopped checking books out of libraries since the Fatherland Act went into effect. I still go there for the reference books, but little else.
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