Slashdot Mirror
Part Of The Patriot Act Shot Down
jtwJGuevara writes "In a victory today for the ACLU, (and many Slashdotters I presume) the section of the Patriot Act which gives power to the FBI to demand confidential financial records from companies as part of terrorist investigations has been ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Judge. Victor Marreo, the District Judge who made this ruling, states that the provision of the Patriot Act in question 'effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge.'"
Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
Sept. 29, 2004 -- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Part of the Patriot Act, a central plank of the Bush Administration's war on terror, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the power the FBI has to demand confidential financial records from companies as part of terrorism investigations.
The ruling was the latest blow to the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects being held in places like Guantanamo Bay can use the American judicial system to challenge their confinement. That ruling was a defeat for the president's assertion of sweeping powers to hold "enemy combatants" indefinitely after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ACLU sued the Department of Justice, arguing that part of the Patriot legislation violated the constitution because it authorizes the FBI to force disclosure of sensitive information without adequate safeguards.
The judge agreed, stating that the provision "effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge." Think about your breathing.
Under the provision, the FBI did not have to show a judge a compelling need for the records and it did not have to specify any process that would allow a recipient to fight the demand for confidential information.
Copyright 2004 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
IAAL (I Am A Lawyer) and this is entirely meaningless unless it is ruled by the supreme court. Hopefully on appeal the Supreme Court accepts this case.
At last, some justice!!!!!! Down with the patriot act!!!!
The judge agreed, stating that the provision "effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge." Think about your breathing.
What follows is from another site but it shows the ACLU isn't as consistant as some say they are.
v eRights.cfm?ID=9039&c=146
e rty.cfm?ID=10778&c=140
Quoted text follows.
Explaining their support for taxpayer-funded abortions, they say this:
http://www.aclu.org/ReproductiveRights/Reproducti
What about those who are morally or religiously opposed to abortion?
Our tax dollars fund many programs that individual people oppose. For example, those who oppose war on moral or religious grounds pay taxes that are applied to military programs. The congressional bans on abortion funding impose a particular religious or moral viewpoint on those women who rely on government-funded health care. Providing funding for abortion does not encourage or compel women to have abortions, but denying funding compels many women to carry their pregnancies to term. Nondiscriminatory funding would simply place the profoundly personal decision about how to treat a pregnancy back where it belongs -- in the hands of the woman who must live with the consequences of that decision.
Yet when they describe their opposition to school vouchers, they say this:
http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLib
School voucher schemes would force all taxpayers to support religious beliefs and practices with which they may strongly disagree.
Oh yes, go ACLU!!! Go Free Speech!!! (Unless you are saying something I disagree with, in which case I try to mod you down to a troll).
its designed to fuck terrorists royally by taking away even the pretense of rights assuming you're even a SUSPECTED one
oh and itmakes provisions so that *EVERYONE* can be considered a terrorist and anti-american
and btw when you're fingered as a terrorist and detained indefinitely without legal counsel and with automatic gag orders on even talking about the case (assuming you survive your brutal torture at the hands of american contractors)
its the antithesis of what a PATRIOT is and a sick joke fostered by the Bush administration and whoever wins both kerry and bush supported it, like they both support the war
there is no choice. your gov't is under big money control, go back to sleep
Now, the Republican party is getting ready with "Patriot Act II" in response to the findings of the Sept 11 commission, but in stark contrast to what's required, has granted far greater power and reach to the security agencies while dramatically eroding constitutional protections and providing a fraction of added security.
Really? Where did you hear about this? TFH Magazine or the Left Wing Wacko Newsletter?
"Republicans now more than ever seem to be under the belief that they could throw any dissenting american in to prison and blow up anyone voicing their dissent outside the US and are on a collission course with the stark reality that while we may never die from a terrorist attack, we will surely feel the ever tightening grip of a police state."
So. radical Islamic terrorists who seek to destroy western culture, starting with the US, and slaughter all "infidels" who refuse to bow down to Allah are merely "dissenters"? One of the main, if not the main, reason GW is going to re-elected is because the Democrats have crazies like you in their camp.
Hey, cock.
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