[MAPC-policy] Re-write Anti-terrorism Bills to Protect Civil

[MAPC-policy] Re-write Anti-terrorism Bills to Protect Civil

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-10-17

hi all,
following is an action alert I just received from CA - maybe we could take
this line in our meeting with Feingold on Monday? Say, given the Senator's
courageous support for our civil liberties, what can he do (what can we do)
to urge the conference cmte to come up with a compromise bill that does a
better job of protecting our rights????
I don't know how likely it is, but it's worth a shot, no?
-x
____________________________________________
East Timor Action Network field organizer   ETAN field office
Social Justice Center
office 608-663-5431                         1202 Williamson St
cell 608-347-4598                           Madison, WI 53703
home 608-255-4598                           fax 608-227-0141

Check out these internet sites!
the East Timor Action Network/US http://www.etan.org
Madison, WI - East Timor projects http://www.aideasttimor.org
Madison's Social Justice Center http://www.socialjusticecenter.org

"Independence is not about having a flag, a president, a parliament, a
government. Independence must imply, year by year, gradual change in the
life of the entire population of Timor Lorosa'e. If we fail to effect
change in the daily life of the people, independence will be a meaningless
concept, all our sacrifices throughout the years of the struggle will be in
vain. And not one of us will allow this to occur."
-Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão


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From: x
Reply-To: x
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 16:55:29 EDT
To: "The surge mailing list" <x>
Subject: [surge] EXTREMELY URGENT: Re-write Anti-terrorism Bills to Protect
Civil Liberties NOW!!!

Regarding the Senate anti-terrorism bill (SB 1510 - http://Thomas.loc.gov )
that passed almost unanimously (Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, was the exception)
last Thursday and its companion bill in the House (HR 2975) that passed 337
to 79 last Friday:

By voting for these bills in your respective Houses, you have betrayed both
liberty and justice--those great American values that you are purporting to
defend. Indeed, the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of
Rights are one of the few things that make this country great. You should be
fiercely protecting these freedoms; instead, you have betrayed them. SB 1510
and HR 2975 are unconstitutional.

However, there is still time to right this terrible wrong: If both Houses
negotiate a compromise between their respective bills in conference, you can
take the opportunity to create a bill that does not violate the basic tenets
on which this country was founded.

Currently, these bills strike no balance between security and liberty. These
bills both directly violate the Constitution and existing laws that ensure
the public's rights to privacy and due process, and in addition, because of
the vague language used to define "domestic terrorism" and what constitutes
"supporting terrorism," they also pose an enormous threat to Freedom of
Speech and Freedom of Assembly--the public's rights to openly criticize and
thereby change policies and institutions.

A major concern here is that the Powers-that-be could use this legislation
to eradicate public dissent--in particular, the Administration and the
Special Interests it serves (e.g., Big Oil, Big Business) could use this
legislation to silence its critics among the general public. Already in a
speech to Congress, the Administration's Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick has outrageously equated opponents of "free trade" to terrorists.

According to the ACLU, the most troubling provisions in both the Senate and
the House anti-terrorism bills include the following, which should be
corrected in conference:

--Permits Information Sharing: Allows information obtained during criminal
investigations to be distributed to the CIA, NSA, INS, Secret Service and
military, without judicial review, and with no limits as to how these
agencies can use the information once they have it.

--Authorizes "Sneak and Peek Searches": Authorizes expanded use of covert
searches for any criminal investigation, thus allowing the government to
enter your home, office or other private place and conduct a search, take
photographs, and download your computer files without notifying you until
later.

--Allows Forum Shopping: Law enforcement can apply for warrants in any court
in any jurisdiction where it is conducting an investigation for a search
anywhere in the country. This would make it very difficult for individuals
subjected to searches to challenge the warrant.

--Creates New Crime of Domestic Terrorism: Creates an entirely new type of
crime, which is unnecessary for the prosecution of the "War on Terrorism."
By expanding the definition of terrorism in such a way, the bill could
potentially allow the government to levy heavy penalties for relatively
minor offenses, including political protests.

--Allows the CIA to Spy on Americans: Gives the Director of Central
Intelligence the power to manage the gathering of intelligence in America
and mandate the disclosure of information obtained by the FBI about
terrorism in general - even if it is about law-abiding American citizens -
to the CIA.

--Imposes Indefinite Detention: Permits authorities to indefinitely detain
non-citizens, without meaningful judicial review.

--Reduces Privacy in Student Records: Allows law enforcement to access, use
and disseminate highly personal information about American and foreign
students.

--Expands Wiretap Authority: Minimizes judicial supervision of law
enforcement wiretap authority in several ways, including: permitting law
enforcement to obtain the equivalent of "blank" warrants in the physical
world; authorizing intelligence wiretaps that need not specify the phone to
be tapped or require that only the target's conversations be eavesdropped
upon; and allowing the FBI to use its "intelligence" authority to circumvent
the judicial review of the probable cause requirement of the Fourth
Amendment.

Wednesday, October 17, 2001 4:06 PM

[MAPC-policy] Re-write Anti-terrorism Bills to Protect Civil