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USA Patriot Act I. Immediately post 9/11 Expanded search authority Roving wiretaps Monitor private internet and email traffic Acquisition of library and bookstore records (Section 215)
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USA Patriot Act I • Immediately post 9/11 • Expanded search authority • Roving wiretaps • Monitor private internet and email traffic • Acquisition of library and bookstore records (Section 215) • Basis for information request is made solely on the assertion of the government that there is a connection to an ongoing investigation; target does not have to be a suspect
First Amendment Implications of USA Patriot I • Lowered standards for denying FOIA requests means less information in the marketplace • Expanded assertions of executive privilege and the need for secrecy, even in areas unrelated to national security (ie. energy) • Potential targeting of domestic dissent by agencies like the CIA • Disciplining of students, teachers, and editors who question official administration policy • Proxy groups involved in “spying”—report your professors for any “un-American” activities
Patriot II—Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 • Eliminate distinctions between domestic and international terrorism in statute • Takes restrictions off certain Fed agencies • Changes focus from criminal prosecution to national security • DNA database of suspected terrorists—defined as “person suspected of being a member of a terrorist organization” (OK, how do we know it’s a terrorist organization? Ahhhh! It’s got THOSE guys as members!)
Patriot II continued • Grants new powers to the Attorney General to authorize warrantless searches or surveillance (now possible only when a Declaration of War is issued) • Amends rules for expatriation (stripping citizenship—allowed for anyone found to be providing material support for a terrorist organization (even if that person didn’t know or have the intent of supporting terrorism) • Tightens restriction on FOIA requests
Commentary on Patriot II • “The Bush administration’s draft Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 would radically expand law enforcement and intelligence gathering authorities, reduce or eliminate judicial oversight over surveillance, authorize secret arrests, create a DNA database based on unchecked executive ‘suspicion’, create new death penalties, and even seek to take American citizenship away from persons who belong to or support disfavored political groups.” • Professor David Cole, Georgetown University, “What Patriot Act II Proposes to Do,”