Congress plans scrutiny of Patriot Act

TalkBack 43 of 74:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Actually, you're *VERY* wrong.

Here are a few of the rights you've lost:

o The right to have all subpoenas reviewed by an
impartial judge. There's now a separate path
(which
is being extensively used by DEA, BTW) to get
approval for subpoenas to be used against
"terrorist" organizations. Strangely enough,
guys selling pot are now considered terrorists.

o You have lost the right to have confidentiality
of your library records and book purchases. And
if the librarian or an employee of the bookstore
*TELLS YOU* that your records have been
investigated, then *THEY* have committed a felony.

o You have lost the right to be *TOLD* that
search has been conducted against you. That's
right: the cops, using a "sneak and peek"
warrant, can clandestinely break into your house,
search the place, and then seal it up again
without any need to even tell you they were
there.

o You have lost the right to question witnesses
against you (at least in military tribunals).
The government merely needs to assert the claim
that your investigation or questioning will cause
the release of "secret" information and boom! no
right to confront your accusers!

o You have lost the right to be held in this
country if accused of certain crimes by this
country. Instead, through a process called
"Extraordinary Rendition", you may be shipped
to certain other foreign countries that are,
shall we say, less concerned about the delicacies
around how they extract information from you.

There is a fellow who used to be the Navy's Judge
Advocate General (you know, the guy they modelled Admiral Chedwiggen after) who is now the Dean of
a law school who has argued very strongly against
many of these practices.

Make no mistake: *YOU* have lost rights. You may
not miss them yet, but they are, at least
temporarily, gone. And that's why *EVEN YOU*
should support the ACLU.

Posted by: Atlant   Posted on: 05/12/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now
• Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now