By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 5th, 2009
The Senate Judiciary Committee last week began its debate of legislation intended to extend three provisionsof the Bush-era Anti-Patriot Act which are set to expire on December 31st. The bill also will add some minortweaks to other over-reaching surveillance stipulations of the act.
Such matters make this bill a very important business.
“Despite the many amendments to [such laws as the Anti-Patriot Act] since 9/11,” declares the American CivilLiberties Union (ACLU) on its website, “Congress and the public have yet to receive real information about howthese powerful tools are being used to collect information on Americans, and how that information is beingused.”
“These laws work together to create a surveillance superstructure–and Congress must understand how itreally works to create meaningful protections for civil liberties,” adds the ACLU.
Committee members Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation called theJUSTICE Act. The JUSTICE Act would restore many of our civil liberties, which all too often were trampled bysuch post-9/11 surveillance laws as the Anti-Patriot Act.
The Feingold-Durbin legislation not only reverses many of the suppressions of civil liberties found in the Anti-Patriot Act, but it also amends the equally-destructive FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance laws. Ifpassed, the JUSTICE Act will go a long way to bringing these laws into line with the U.S. Constitution.
On Sept. 17th, the Feingold-Durbin bill was read twice and referred to the committee. That is a bill’s first smallstep to possibly becoming law.
But those planning to see this bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee–or see the panel produce anylegitimate restoration of our privacy rights–probably should think again.
The Senate panel initially looked at Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D-VT) Sunset Extension Act, which wouldprovide much smaller fixes to the Anti-Patriot Act while still extending the authorization of the three expiringprovisions.
The committee decided to substitute Leahy’s bill with similar, more conservative legislation he’s co-sponsoredwith Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The Leahy-Feinstein bill provides only tiny modifications to the Anti-PatriotAct.
At least the Senate panel accepted a Feingold amendment which would shorten the time period of the Act’s”sneak and peek” provision–a stipulation which allows law enforcement officials to postpone giving noticewhen they conduct a search.
A Durbin amendment to limit powers which allow the federal government to secure access to “any tangiblething,” was rejected.
