Patriot act extends to blogs critical of government

[Guest guest]

http://www.itaffectsyou.org/blog/index.php?p=37

 

11/13/2004

Patriot act extends to blogs critical of government

 

Filed under:

 

* General

 

— ross @ 3:33 pm

 

An article in the Village Voice highlights a win for American values

and liberty as a particularly heinous part of the Patriot Act has been

struck down by a Federal District Judge. But it is also offers a

chilling reminder of just how far reaching and anti-American this act

really is.

 

" The provision we challenged [that the judge struck down], " says

Jaffer, " allows the FBI to issue NSLs against 'wire or electronic

service communication providers.' Telephone companies and Internet

service providers [are included.] " As Judge Marrero noted, the FBI

could also use an NSL " to discern the identity of someone whose

anonymous web log, or 'blog,' is critical of the Government. "

 

Jaffer adds that by requiring information from telephone companies

and Internet providers, " The FBI could . . . effectively obtain a

political organization's membership list, like the NAACP or the ACLU,

[and could] obtain the names of people with whom a journalist has

communicated over the Internet. "

 

Furthermore - dig this - every National Security Letter comes with

a gag order. The recipients are forbidden to tell any other person

that the FBI has demanded this information, and can't even tell their

lawyers that the long hand of the government is scooping up their data.

 

As Judge Marrero said in his decision, this omnivorous invasion of

privacy is so broad that it mandates this gag rule " in every case, to

every person, in perpetuity, with no vehicle for the ban to ever be

lifted from the recipient. "

 

Read that again. The abuses are so outrageous and so broad it is

nothing less than an affront to our constitution. It's an affront to

every red blooded, liberty loving American. Luckily, one of those

pesky judges Ashcroft hates so much struck down this provision. We all

need to watch this case as it moves up the courts. Bush and his likely

new AG Gonzales are big advocates of the PA, so look for them to fight

for this one. We must fight back to make sure this anti-liberty,

un-American piece of legislation is ends up where it belongs or else

we make a mockery of the words " liberty and justice for all. "