Post 9/11 Civil Protections-When will we roll back controversial aspects of the the Patriot act- If ever?
There are essential questions going unasked and un answered about the Patriot act provisions that reduced civil liberties in the country by way of reducing our protections from inappropriate law enforcement activity. When or under what circumstance do we even begin to return to some pre 9/11 protections? Who or what is watching for abuse and what has been done about documented abuses or these new law enforcement powers?
Some links that support my concerns
The House forwarded legislation to the president Thursday to extend three controversial Patriot Act spy measures through May. They were set to expire at month’s end.
The 279-143 vote came two days after the Senate approved the same language. Earlier in the week, the House had agreed to prolong the expiring provisions to Dec. 8, but on Thursday opted for the shorter period to follow the Senate.
The expiring provisions at issue originally were set to sunset in December 2009. Congress extended the deadline until the end of February 2010 in a bid to work out compromise legislation. When that failed, lawmakers punted for a year, declaring that those measures would expire at the end of this month unless new action is taken.
The new action was that lawmakers punted again.
The Patriot Act was hastily adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The president is expected to sign the legislation. The White House said it wants the measures extended through at least 2012.
Here are the three extended provisions at issue:
• The “roving wiretap” provision allows the FBI to obtain wiretaps from a secret intelligence court, known as the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court, without identifying the target or what method of communication is to be tapped.
• The “lone wolf” measure allows FISA court warrants for the electronic monitoring of a person for whatever reason — even without showing that the suspect is an agent of a foreign power or a terrorist. The government has said it has never invoked that provision, but the Obama administration said it wanted to retain the authority to do so.
• The “business records” provision allows FISA court warrants for any type of record, from banking to library to medical, without the government having to declare that the information sought is connected to a terrorism or espionage investigation.
Illustration: Cirne/Flickr