When we have a government, ie, Congress that has to meet in secret to pass more Constitutionally illegal laws that for one thing, give an already renegade agency like the FBI even more power, we have a wee problem.
Giving the FBI control over what they want to do instead of judges and grand juries is like putting a lion over the safety of a herd of gazelle.
We can always start wondering about our safety when government does anything is secret. Why do they consider it necessary other than to pass something none of us want or something illegal? Even some government officials worry this legislation goes too far.
I guess Americans will do what they normally do at times like this…Hey, what’s on TV tonite…
Ghostwolfemoon
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Senate Intelligence Committee Considers Patriot Act Expansion Bill in Secret; ACLU Calls for Open and Public Dialogue
American Civil Liberties Union Press Release
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union denounced today’s closed-door votes by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence of legislation designed to reauthorize - and expand - the Patriot Act. Included in the committee’s deliberations are proposals to make the Patriot Act’s most controversial provisions permanent, and to expand it by allowing FBI agents issue their own search orders with no advance court approval.
"These are proposals that demand a full, vigorous and public debate and vote, not secret meetings," said Lisa Graves, ACLU Senior Counsel for Legislative Strategy. "If adopted, these broad new powers would sidestep time-honored checks and balances. Lawmakers should reject this reckless disregard for the Fourth Amendment."
The bill would grant so-called "administrative subpoena" authority to the FBI, letting the bureau write and approve its own search orders, without judicial approval in advance, for any tangible thing it deems relevant to an intelligence investigation. This power would let agents seize personal records from medical facilities, libraries, hotels, gun dealers, banks and any other businesses, without having to appear before a judge, and without any evidence that the people whose records are swept in are involved in any criminal activity. Such a move would grossly undermine the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Complete article: http://www.sierratimes.com/05/05/27/aclu.htm
