Patriot Act defended
Heather MacDonald takes on the critcs of the Patriot Act.
"The recent indictment of a would-be arms merchant connected to al Qaeda is only the latest reminder that the threat of terrorism is as urgent as ever. Yet many among the political and opinion elites act as if America is more at risk from the Bush administration's efforts to thwart future terror attacks than from the attackers themselves. Hardly a day passes without a well-publicized denunciation of the government's alleged assault on civil liberties. Cities and counties across the country are declaring themselves "civil liberties safe zones," and a barrage of bills in Congress seeks to repeal sections of the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law passed after 9/11, on the ground that it violates constitutional rights."
"...Critics of the administration also decry the Patriot Act's provision for delaying notice of a search -- the so-called 'sneak-and-peak' rule -- as an outrageous power grab by the government. The Patriot Act naysayers don't tell you that there is nothing new about this power at all: Judges have long allowed the government to delay notice of a search if notifying the target would risk witness intimidation, destruction of evidence or flight from prosecution. The Patriot Act merely codifies existing case law into one national standard.
"In introducing a bill last month to amend Section 215, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) alleged that Americans had become 'afraid to read books, terrified into silence.' Were that ever the case, it would be thanks to the misinformation spread by advocates and politicians, not because of any real threat posed by the Bush administration's war on terror."
Feingold's charge is laughable.
Heather MacDonald takes on the critcs of the Patriot Act.
"The recent indictment of a would-be arms merchant connected to al Qaeda is only the latest reminder that the threat of terrorism is as urgent as ever. Yet many among the political and opinion elites act as if America is more at risk from the Bush administration's efforts to thwart future terror attacks than from the attackers themselves. Hardly a day passes without a well-publicized denunciation of the government's alleged assault on civil liberties. Cities and counties across the country are declaring themselves "civil liberties safe zones," and a barrage of bills in Congress seeks to repeal sections of the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law passed after 9/11, on the ground that it violates constitutional rights."
"...Critics of the administration also decry the Patriot Act's provision for delaying notice of a search -- the so-called 'sneak-and-peak' rule -- as an outrageous power grab by the government. The Patriot Act naysayers don't tell you that there is nothing new about this power at all: Judges have long allowed the government to delay notice of a search if notifying the target would risk witness intimidation, destruction of evidence or flight from prosecution. The Patriot Act merely codifies existing case law into one national standard.
"In introducing a bill last month to amend Section 215, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) alleged that Americans had become 'afraid to read books, terrified into silence.' Were that ever the case, it would be thanks to the misinformation spread by advocates and politicians, not because of any real threat posed by the Bush administration's war on terror."
Feingold's charge is laughable.
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