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ACTION ALERTS: Anti-Terrorism Bill
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Progressive Portal
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Oct 04, 2001 10:16 PDT
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IN THIS MESSAGE:
(1) ACLU OPPOSES "PATRIOT" ANTI-TERRORISM BILL
(2) SOME CRIMES LABELED "TERRORISM" ARE DEFINED TOO BROADLY
(1) ACLU OPPOSES "PATRIOT" ANTI-TERRORISM BILL
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The American Civil Liberties Union is opposing the anti-terrorism
legislation as currently drafted in the House Judiciary Committee. It is
expected to be voted on next week (the week of Oct. 8). The ACLU has
posted an online petition against the bill. The Senate is still
struggling with its version, and may fix some of the more troubling
provisions of the House version. However, the Senate might not include
the important provision in the House bill that causes most of the
provisions expire after two years unless renewed by Congress.
The ACLU petition is at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/anti-terrorism107.html
The ACLU writes:
"House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) have announced 'compromise' anti-terrorism
legislation ... far beyond the powers necessary to fight terrorism on
American soil.
"Specifically, ... 'Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act (PATRIOT)' (H.R. 2975)
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.2975:> ... would permit
indefinite detention of a non-citizen ordered deported to a country that
would not accept him or her, minimize judicial supervision of electronic
surveillance by law enforcement authorities and allow intelligence
agencies to spy on U.S. citizens by providing them enhanced access to
sensitive information about them.
"Terror, by its very nature, is intended not only to destroy, but also
to intimidate a people, forcing them to take actions that are not in
their best interest. We must not be intimidated. Congress must not let
terrorism win by weakening essential checks and balances on the
authority of federal law enforcement."
See also a statement from organizations, University professors, and
computer professionals:
http://indefenseoffreedom.org/
[My own position: The bill needs to be amended to fix the problems
identified by the ACLU, but if that is done, it should be supported.
Specifically, the House "sunset" provision is crucial, and the bill must
provide for judicial review and due process.]
(2) SOME CRIMES LABELED "TERRORISM" ARE DEFINED TOO BROADLY
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I looked at the provision of H.R. 2975 relating to the definition of
"terrorism." The definition actually incorporates crimes from other
existing laws and makes those crimes acts of "terrorism." While most of
them seem acceptable, there are a couple of provisions that may threaten
civil liberties because they are written too broadly. Specifically:
Title 18, United States Code, Section 956(b) provides a 25-year
sentences for "conspiracy to injure property of a foreign government."
There is no minimum threshold -- conceivably, if two people together
("conspiring") damage a trash can owned by a foreign government, they
could be charged with conspiracy and jailed for 25 years.
See:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=uscode18&STEMMER=en&URL=/uscode/18/956.html
Section 1362 relates to harming "any radio, telegraph, telephone or
cable, line, station, or system." It provides up to 10 years in jail or
a fine for anyone who "willfully or maliciously interferes in any way
with the working or use of any such line, or system, or willfully or
maliciously obstructs, hinders, or delays the transmission of any
communication over any such line." What if, for example, thousands of
people flock to a Web site to write letters to news media expressing
their views about news coverage. Could the news media claim that the
flood of emails "delayed" their communications, and therefore
constitutes terrorism?
Note in the above the phrase "willfully OR maliciously." Other laws say
"willfully AND maliciously," an important distinction.
See:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=uscode18&STEMMER=en&URL=/uscode/18/1362.html
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