Patriot Act

Are our civil liberties threatened?

Are our civil liberties threatened?

Current Status.  Libraries and medical records.  Secret searches.  Information sharing.

Current Status

The Patriot Act has been renewed with some new civil rights protections:

• Recipients of court-approved subpeonas for information in terrorist investigations now have the right to challenge a requirement that they refrain from telling anyone.

• A requirement that an individual provide the FBI with the names of lawyers consulted about demands for records issued by investigators (so-named National Security Letters), has been eliminated.

• A clarification that most libraries are not subject to demands in National Security Letters for information about suspected terrorists.

The Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee has declared that there will be new hearings on the Patriot Act to address issues such as requiring a higher threshold for wiretaps without court warrants and the setting of an expiration date for the use of National Security Letters in terrorism investigations.

Libraries and medical records

Allows the government to demand library, medical and other records and makes it a crime for the record holders to reveal that the request was made. Is this too broad?

Secret searches

"Sneak and peak" provision lets the government search a person's home for any reason and delay telling him about it. Is this acceptable in all circumstances or only for terrorist cases?

Information sharing

Authorizes FBI, CIA and the White House sweeping access to confidential information such as telephone conversations, email excerpts and grand jury findings. This info is available to all government agencies, even those not working on terrorism. Is this mass gathering of immeasurable amounts of information on all Americans acceptable and efficient?

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 27, 2008 17:55 PDT.

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