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Justice Department Proud of Patriot Act Slippery Slope

Posted by michael on from the first-they-came-for-the-people-different-from-me dept.

frank_adrian314159 writes "Yahoo News is reporting that the DoJ has been using its increased powers under the US PATRIOT Act to pursue common criminals. DoJ Officials have been holding seminars on how to use increased wiretap powers against (non-terrorist) money launderers and drug dealers. One example in the article is the guy running a meth lab who's now up for a life sentence for 'manufacturing chemical weapons' instead of the much shorter sentence he would have been facing under the current drug laws. Wonderful, huh? Who didn't see this coming? Of course, you're a law-abiding citizen, so you have nothing to worry about, right?" Patriot Act II will allow any Federal agent to demand records from anyone who interacts with you, with no judicial oversight whatsoever.

2 of 1,108 comments (clear)

  1. Didja see this? by mrpuffypants · · Score: 5, Informative

    Crowd plays the "Imperial March" from Star Wars as Ashcroft enters building: story

    And while I can't find it there was also, at a Patriot Act "whoo-ha!" rally, a protestor that directly addressed Ashcroft and said "You're fired" and told him that what he was doing was wrong. You didn't see any of that in the liberal media, however...

  2. Re:Print the article... by darkwiz · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...and take it into the voting booth in November, 2004.

    Agreed. And remember, Congress voted 357-66 in the house, and 98-1 in the senate. Which means, despite the rhetoric of Democratic presidential candidates - at least 69% of Democratic representatives (and 96% of Democratic senators) voted for it as well. So be sure to print off this sheet as well (pre-emptive google cache: here)

    Give all these assholes the boot: vote against the incumbent!