[Infowarrior] - ACLU Comprehensive Report On Patriot Act Abuses

[Richard Forno]

ACLU Releases Comprehensive Report On Patriot Act Abuses (3/11/2009)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312; media at dcaclu.org

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/patriot/38979prs20090311.html

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union released a  
comprehensive report today examining widespread abuses that have  
occurred under the USA Patriot Act, a law that was rushed through  
Congress just 45 days after September 11. In the almost eight years  
since the passage of the controversial national security law, the  
Patriot Act has led to egregious government misconduct.

“From the gagging of our nation’s librarians under the national  
security letter statute to the gutting of time-honored surveillance  
laws, the Patriot Act has been disastrous for Americans’ rights,” said  
Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative  
Office. “In the panic following the events of 9/11, our nation’s  
lawmakers hastily expanded the government’s authority to a dangerous  
level and opened a Pandora’s box of surveillance.”

The American Civil Liberties Union’s report, “Reclaiming Patriotism,”  
authored by policy counsel Michael German and legislative counsel  
Michelle Richardson, was delivered to congressional offices on Capitol  
Hill, as well as posted to the newly re-launched site www.reformthepatriotact.org 
. The report is being released in anticipation of the upcoming  
congressional debate surrounding three Patriot Act provisions due to  
expire on December 31, 2009. The ACLU has been working within the  
halls of Congress and the courts to introduce Patriot Act reform  
legislation. In December of 2008, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, the  
gag order contained in the Patriot Act’s National Security Letter  
(NSL) provision was struck down.

“Reclaiming Patriotism” reveals that in the years since its passage,  
the Patriot Act has paved the way for the expansion of government- 
sponsored surveillance including the gutting of the Foreign  
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and a recent revamping of the  
Attorney General Guidelines to allow law enforcement to conduct  
physical surveillance without suspicion. Indeed, over the last eight  
years, numerous expansions of executive authority have worked in  
tandem to infringe upon our rights. Only by understanding the larger  
picture of the combined effects of Patriot Act, the amendments to  
FISA, the guidelines for physical surveillance and other expansions of  
power can Congress make an informed, consistent and principled  
decision about whether and how to amend all of these very powerful  
surveillance tools.

“The fallout we’ve seen from the Patriot Act being rushed through the  
legislative process is a dramatic example of the dire need for proper  
and deliberative congressional oversight,” said Fredrickson. “Congress  
should use this year’s Patriot Act reauthorization as an opportunity  
to reexamine all of our surveillance laws. Our lawmakers have, over  
time, built a massive surveillance mechanism bit by bit. Now is the  
time take it apart, examine each piece and develop wiser policies.”

To read the ACLU’s report “Reclaiming Patriotism” and learn more about  
the three Patriot Act provisions up for expiration this year, go to:
www.reformthepatriotact.org