PATRIOT ACT ANALYSIS

Submitted By:Tony Caputo

"If the United States is at war against terrorism to preserve freedom, a new coalition of conservatives and liberals is asking, why is it doing so by wholesale abrogation of civil liberties? They cite the Halloween-week passage of the antiterrorism bill -- a new law that carries the almost preposterously gimmicky title: "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" (USA PATRIOT Act). Critics both left and right are saying it not only strips Americans of fundamental rights but does little or nothing to secure the nation from terrorist attacks." --Kelly O'Meara, "Police State," Insight Magazine, 11/9/01

Local Copy of especially significant sections of "H.R. 3162" aka the "USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001," aka "Public Law No: 107-56," aka "Ashcroft's police-state bill," passed into law on 26 October 2001. Single HTML file (500K)   |   Text-only file (413)   |   Complete PDF copy (131 pages) See Also: Analysis of USA Patriot Act

Analysis of USA Patriot Act (passed October 2001)
• Forfeiting `Enduring Freedom' for `Homeland Security':
  A Constitutional Analysis of the USA PATRIOT Act
  and the Justice Department's Anti-Terrorism Initiatives,
  by John W. Whitehead & Steven H. Aden, American University Law Review, Vol.51, No.6, August 2002
  
• Richard Grossman on the USA Patriot Act and the Rule of Law, 12/11/01
  
• Arcata City Council passes binding local Ordinance
  refusing compliance with USA Patriot Act, Adopted 2 April 2003
  
• The Other War - The Bush Administration and the End of Civil Liberties,
  by Elaine Cassel, CounterPunch, 26 Apr 2003
  
• The USA PATRIOT Act:
  What's So Patriotic About Trampling on the Bill of Rights?
  by Nancy Chang, Senior Litigation Attorney,
  Center for Constitutional Rights, November 2001
  
• The USA PATRIOT Act Was Planned Before 9/11,
  Jennifer Van Bergen, t r u t h o u t, 20 May 2002
  
• Bracing for Bush's War at Home
  Ground Laid for Historic Presidential Powers Push,
  by Chisun Lee, Village Voice, 26 Mar 2003
  
• Repeal the USA Patriot Act,
  by Jennifer Van Bergen, t r u t h o u t, April 1st-6th, 2002
  • Part I: This Law is Dangerous
  • Part II: The Wheel of History
  • Part III: Civil Rights Violations and Torture
  • Part IV: Patriotism or Tyranny?
  • Part V: Who's a Terrorist?
  • Part VI: National Security & Civil Liberty
• Domestic Terrorism:
  The "USA PATRIOT Act" of 2001
  - Serial Assaults on Constitutional Liberties
  from Broadening Our Perspectives of 11 September 2001,
  by David Ratcliffe, September 2002
  
• Who Knows?
  The FBI may be hot on the trail of books read by potential terrorists.
  We're not sure because we're not permitted to know,
  by Nat Hentoff, Legal Times, 22 Apr 2002
  
• FISA Court Decision
  analysis and compilation by Paul Wolf, 2 Sep 2002
  • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opens Up,
    by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, from the Federation of
    American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, 27 Aug 2002
  • Secret Court Decision Silently Overrules Provision of PATRIOT Act,
    by Jennifer Van Bergen, truthout, 25 Aug 2002
  • Balanced vs. Unbalanced Law Enforcement,
    Excerpts from the Church Committee Reports of 1975-76
• A Shot Across the Bow From the Darkness,
  by Jonathan Turley, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug 2002
  
• Court Backs Open Deportation Hearings in Terror Cases,
  by Adam Liptak, New York Times, 27 Aug 2002
  
• Patriot Act's Supposed Justification is Gone,
  by Peter Erlinder, Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune, 22 May 2002
  
• Losing the War for Civil Liberties, Kelly Patricia O'Meara, 8/26/02
  
• The F Word,
  by Michael C. Ruppert, From The Wilderness, 20 Nov 2001

"Many people do not know that the USA PATRIOT Act was already written and ready to go long before September 11th. . . . Similar antiterrorism legislation was enacted in the 1996 Antiterrorism Act, which however did little to prevent the events of 9/11, and many provisions had either been declared unconstitutional or were about to be repealed when 9/11 occurred. . . . History . . . shows that the Reagan and Bush I Administrations repeatedly attempted to push such laws through. Oklahoma City proved that only a `real' terrorist attack would convince Congress. Furthermore, it is obvious that the proponents of this amendment [to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)] know it is an end-run around the Fourth Amendment. They have had many years to think about it and have repeatedly shown their willingness to enact carefully crafted, unconstitutional laws." --Jennifer Van Bergen, "The USA PATRIOT Act Was Planned Before 9/11," truthout, 5/20/02

Local Copy of 2001 American Civil Liberties Documents:
• 1 November 2001 ACLU Legislative Analysis:
  USA Patriot Act Boosts Government Powers
  While Cutting Back on Traditional Checks and Balances
  
• 23 October 2001 Fact Sheets on How the USA-Patriot Act
  • Expands Law Enforcement "Sneak and Peek" Warrants
  • Permits Indefinite Detention of Immigrants Who Are Not Terrorists
  • Allows for Detention and Deportation of People
    Engaging in Innocent Associational Activity
  • Puts the CIA Back in the Business of Spying on Americans
  • Limits Judicial Oversight of Telephone and Internet Surveillance
  • Enables Law Enforcement to Use Intelligence Authorities
    to Circumvent the Privacy Protections Afforded in Criminal Cases
  • Puts Student Privacy at Risk
  • Puts Financial Privacy at Risk

"[T]he USA PATRIOT Act . . . stands out as radical in its design. To an unprecedented degree, the Act sacrifices our political freedoms in the name of national security and upsets the democratic values that define our nation by consolidating vast new powers in the executive branch of government. . . . Chillingly, the Attorney General's response to the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act was not a pledge to use his new powers responsibly and guard against their abuse, but instead was a vow to step up his detention efforts. Conflating immigrant status with terrorist status, he declared: `Let the terrorists among us be warned, if you overstay your visas even by one day, we will arrest you.' . . . The Administration's blatant power grab, coupled with the wide array of anti-terrorism tools that the USA PATRIOT Act puts at its disposal, portends a wholesale suspension of civil liberties that will reach far beyond those who are involved in terrorist activities." --Nancy Chang, "The USA PATRIOT Act: What's So Patriotic About Trampling on the Bill of Rights?," Sr. Litigation Atty, Center for Constitutional Rights, November 2001

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