Patriot Act Reauthorization

@neonbacalao Said
so to me it seems really stupid to make this permanent, why not just have it reevaluated after 5 or 10 years? The wiretap part worries me a lot, along with the fact that federal agents can search your property without obtaining a warrant from a judge. The former is included in the 14 of the 16 provisions that will be made permanent if this passes, the latter i'm not sure about. ok now it's 259 to 166 with 9 votes left. Ok the
wiretap thing permits "roving" wiretaps that don't specify certain phones, and

it would extend for 10 years access to bookstore and library records (watch what you're reading, people),

it would also include devices that acquire email and internet addresses.

Permit surveillance/searches if foreign intelligence gathering is a purpose,

permits use of a search warrant to seize UNOPENED voice mail (watch what your friends are saying),

authorizes internet providers to disclose customer records,

permit surveillance of terror suspects who operate alone,

makes it a crime to provide material support to terrorists, (261 to 165)

allowing search warrants for electronic evidence stored in U.S.,

extending duration of wiretaps and search warrants to 120 days,

extends information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence agencies,

makes it a crime to collect information to plan or assist a terror attack against mass transit,

Ok and i guess that's it. Thanks to C-Span for that info (cuz i quoted most of it from the bottom of the screen)


Some of those seem like common sense that they should already have been in place but some of them should definitely NOT be permanent. What do you thinK?

@sheskull Said
that's it...who wants to help me move to Canada?

@doubtingthomas Said
I have a very simple question for people who appose this.

What impact did the USA Patriot act have on YOUR civil liberties?

When I say YOUR I mean the person reading this post right now.

@doubtingthomas Said
I have a very simple question for people who appose this.
What impact did the USA Patriot act have on YOUR civil liberties?
When I say YOUR I mean the person reading this post right now.

@babyjane Said
The Patriot Act has not to my knowledge had an impact on my civil liberties personally, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have the potential to do so. Interpretation of the law by the people in charge means everything.

There are some parts of it that aren't without merit, but there were, and probably still are, other parts of it that should never have been passed. The ACLU's opposition paid off with certain aspects of it being repealed but the point is it has the potential to infringe on an ordinary citizen's civil liberties. A lot of people think that it applies only to non-citizens, but it also provides provisions for "domestic terrorism" (like Timothy McVeigh) which would allow them to spy on any citizen not just non-citizens.

The problem is where do they draw the line? When does infringing on our freedoms turn into the beginning of a fascist state?

https://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
https://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/wiretap?currentPage=all
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/08/eff-documents-shed-light-fbi-electronic-surveillance-technology

@babyjane Said
The Patriot Act has not to my knowledge had an impact on my civil liberties personally, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have the potential to do so. Interpretation of the law by the people in charge means everything.

There are some parts of it that aren't without merit, but there were, and probably still are, other parts of it that should never have been passed. The ACLU's opposition paid off with certain aspects of it being repealed but the point is it has the potential to infringe on an ordinary citizen's civil liberties. A lot of people think that it applies only to non-citizens, but it also provides provisions for "domestic terrorism" (like Timothy McVeigh) which would allow them to spy on any citizen not just non-citizens.

The problem is where do they draw the line? When does infringing on our freedoms turn into the beginning of a fascist state?

https://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
https://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/wiretap?currentPage=all
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/08/eff-documents-shed-light-fbi-electronic-surveillance-technology

@doubtingthomas Said
To say that something has a potential to be abused doesn't mean its entirly wrong.