USA Patriot Act


Moral/Ethical Points
All people are created in God’s image; all deserve to be treated with dignity. Our society makes this concrete via the right to free speech and assembly, the right to privacy, and the right to religious liberty

Background
* Passed October 21, 2001 to improve the surveillance and terror prevention abilities of the Department of Justice

* With 5 versions in 5 weeks, many who voted for it did not have time to read its 343 pages before the vote.

* The President now calling for complete renewal of the Patriot Act. The Attorney General said any attempt to amend will be vetoed.

* On Jan. 23, 2004 a federal district judge in Louisiana ruled that the clause which considers providing advice or assistance to known terrorist groups as a form of material support of terrorism is "impermissibly vague" and could be misconstrued to include "unequivocally pure speech and advocacy protected by the 1st Amendment."


Problems with the Act
Most problems relate to the new Department of Justice powers which pits security against civil liberties

* Caused many incidents of racial and ethnic profiling and discrimination, particularly for persons of Arab/Middle Eastern heritage.

* No longer needed
- Probable cause
- notification of person under investigation until search completed

* Lack of judicial review for immigration and deportation hearings

* Virtually unlimited access to bookstore and library records. (Section 215)

What Will Help
* S.1709, the SAFE Act (Security and Freedom Ensured)amends PATRIOT Act to place
- reasonable limits on surveillance powers
- eliminates possibility for roving wire taps.

* S. 1552, the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act proposes
- similar changes
- reinstates the need for proof of probable cause in investigations of library records and bookstores
- restores judicial review in terrorism cases.

3/2004