Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 12:20:34 -0400 To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> Subject: Jim Warren On Assuring "Anti-Terrorist" Powers Are LIMITED To Policing Terrorists Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 13:46:46 -0700 To: jwarren@well.com From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com> Subject: assuring "anti-terrorist" powers are LIMITED to policing terrorists
>http://www.aclu.org/congress/l101901a.html
>...
> The House and Senate anti-terrorism bills (H.R. 2975 and S. 1510)
> contain a "delayed notice" provision, section 213, that would greatly
> expand the government's authority to conduct covert searches. This
> means that law enforcement agencies can enter a person's home or
> office, search through the person's possessions, in some cases seize
> physical objects or electronic information ...
This and many of the other expanded police-state powers in the various so-called "USA" and "anti-terrorist"and "Patriot" bills before Congress, use "terrorism" as the pretext for these broad attacks on what's left of our constitutional civil liberties.
Okay -- if "terrorism" is really the ONLY purpose of such greatly expanded police powers and surveillance facilities -- then include in the legislation, *massive* criminal penalties for any agent of the government who uses *any* of those expanded powers or facilities for ANY purpose OTHER than investigating and prosecuting clearly-defined "terrorist" activities!
That way, perhaps those in positions of great power who are tempted to use these new powers for personal gain, will think twice before pursuing self-serving ventures such occurred in the Nixon/Watergate administration, the IRS during its guilty-until-proven-innocent heyday, and the endless snooping by J. Edgar Hoover, which assured his tenure-for-life and muzzled all FBI critics while his snoop'n'peep files existed.
And, a crucial part of this legislation -- no matter how it finally ends up -- MUST be *clear* and UNambiguous definitions of the "terrorists" and "terrorist activities" for which the massively-expanded powers are supposedly intended. At least, initially.
For instance, will they apply to investigating and punishing those "terrorists" who assassinate physicians who perform abortions? Bombers of Planned Parenthood clinics, and all of their supporting "terrorist" organizations? Local teen-age drug dealers (who have sometimes been charged under the RICO Act)? Computer geeks who (as the RIAA requested) "terrorize" the recording-industry by cracking their anti-piracy techniques? Cellphone users who are automatically tracked on freeways, and discovered to be "terrorist" speeders? Capitalists who "terrorize" tax-collectors with "inventive" offshore banking practices?
If we're going to give up our civil liberties in the name of protecting us against "international terrorists," then let's make DAMN sure that is the ONLY kind of violations to which these awesome police and spy powers are applied.
And let's make damn sure that ANYone who ABUSES those powers is criminally prosecuted and suffers massive penalties -- including the right of citizens to bring suit if [when!] the "Justice" Department declines to prosecute any of its own (as in RICO).
--jim Jim Warren; jwarren@well.com, technology & public policy columnist & advocate 345 Swett Rd, Woodside CA 94062; voice/650-851-7075; fax/off due to spam-glut
[self-inflating puffery: Playboy Foundation Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award; Soc.of Prof.Journalists-Nor.Calif. James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award; founded InfoWorld, Dr.Dobb's Journal, and Computers, Freedom & Privacy Confs.; Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer Award (in its first year), blah blah]
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