New Legislation Would Amend Patriot Act
Posted on Tuesday, 27 of October , 2009 at 7:43 pm
WASHINGTON – Legislation to amend the Patriot Act with improved civil liberties protections has been introduced in the House by Congressmen John Conyers (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Robert Scott (D-VA).
The original Patriot Act was rushed through Congress days after 9/11 and granted the government broad surveillance powers to spy on innocent Americans. The new legislation is meant to address three provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire this year as well as additional provisions that are not set to expire.
The USA Patriot Amendments Act would create better civil liberties protections for many of the Patriot Act powers, including restricting the gag order attached to receiving a subpoena known as a national security letter (NSL).
Last week, a federal court ruled that the government can continue to enforce a five-year-old gag order on an Internet service provider (ISP) that the FBI served with an NSL many years ago. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the ISP.
Under a current Patriot Act provision, the FBI can use NSLs to demand personal records about innocent customers from ISPs, financial institutions and credit companies without prior judicial approval, and then bar NSL recipients from disclosing anything about the record demand.
The USA Patriot Act Amendments Act also terminates the never-used lone wolf power and limits the use of NSLs to collect information on suspected terrorists or spies instead of innocent Americans. 10-27-09
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Category: Constitution, Courts, Government, Nationwide
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