Will be another sad day if they pass this crap: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSpqPtmX_bE]YouTube - Patriot Act Was Signed Into Law With NO Debate In The House Of Representatives! NONE![/ame]
On 9/11/2001 everything changed. I might be against the Patriot Act if someone could show me one instance where the Feds barged into someone's house just because they could. This is a tool to combat terrorism. It's necessary.
I guess the fact it is un-constitutional has no weight with RINOs. Plenty of cases : Examples of Non-Terror Cases and the Patriot Act Just google: patriot act cases
OK, five of those links didn't work. Of the three that did, the story about arrested students said they violated the terms of their student visas; no reference to the Patriot Act. The one about the post-9/11 arrest were for violation of Immigration laws. Only the story about the arrested photographer referenced the Patriot Act, and in that case, the only evidence is the personal account of the arrest from the accused. You're not making your case very well.
You could see it that way but I don't. It is a quandry of the highest caliber but I am never in favor of comprimising the foundations of our constitution.
I see what you are saying and I can respect your opinion. I don't argue in FSA, but I'd like to say that I've studied it a lot (bachelor's degree in Homeland Security Studies). It is my opinion that the PATRIOT Act is needed. I didn't see it that way before I wrote 100 papers on it, read books like the 9/11 Commission Report, taken courses in Intelligence, Counter terrorism, critical infrastructure, etc. and have been force fed this sort of thing daily in my course of study. That's just my (educated) opinion. This concludes my participation in this thread. :grin::usaflagwa:911:
The FBI was caught by the Justice Department after they abused a key Patriot Act power, known as a National Security Letter. That first reports showed that FBI agents were routinely sloppy in using the self-issued subpoenas and issued hundreds that claimed fake emergencies. LINK With the flawed follow-up letters, the Counterterrorism division attempted to provide retroactive legal justification for telephone data the division had gotten on 3,860 phone numbers, gotten either through verbal requests to the companies or false emergency requests.The Director of the FBI ended up apologizing for it. LINK Oh, and here is your example of Patriot Act breaking and entering a citizens home. From Wikipedia: In May 2004, Professor Steve Kurtz of the University at Buffalo reported his wife's death of heart failure. The associate art professor, who works in the biotechnology sector, was using benign bacterial cultures and biological equipment in his work. Police arriving at the scene found the equipment (which had been displayed in museums and galleries throughout Europe and North America) suspicious and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The next day the FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Department of Homeland Security and numerous other law enforcement agencies arrived in HAZMAT gear and cordoned off the block surrounding Kurtz's house, impounding computers, manuscripts, books, and equipment, and detaining Kurtz without charge for 22 hours. Although it was determined that nothing in the Kurtz's home posed any health or safety risk, the Justice Department sought charges under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act—a law which was expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. A grand jury rejected those charges, but Kurtz is still charged with federal criminal mail and wire fraud, and faced 20 years in jail before the charges were dropped. Supporters worldwide argue that this is a politically motivated prosecution, akin to those seen during the era of McCarthyism, and legal observers note that it is a precedent-setting case with far-reaching implications involving the criminalization of free speech and expression for artists, scientists, researchers, and others.
