* The Liberty Tree *
columnist: Jake Morphonios

Topic: Patriot Act
USA Patriot Act for Dummies - Introduction

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The result of all of these actions has been the deliberate, persistent, and unnecssary erosion of the basic rights that protect every citizen and non-citizen in the United States. A free society demands the rule of law. Without it, democracy is meaningless.

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by Jake Morphonios
(Conservative Libertarian)
Monday, March 24, 2008

In 2003 I watched a special on Hitler that aired on CBS. Of particular interest to me were the scenes of Hitler discussing how to grab more power from the hands of the people. He needed an event to occur that was so terrible that the people would be willing to hand over their rights in the name of security.

So, Hitler ordered his goons to torch the historic Riechstag and blame it on the communists. As a result, Hitler was able to trample on dozens of German freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of press. Perhaps Hitler took these actions out of a page from the text Nero used to formulate his plan to torch Rome, blame it on Christians, and usurp greater power from the people to fight the "insurrection".

This basic process of power-grabbing by the government is portrayed in the Star Wars series, as a Senator named Palpatine assumes the Chancellorship of the Galactic Senate as a result of a crisis he created himself. Later, he secretly instigates a war in order for the people to grant him "emergency" powers that would "temporarily" curtail their liberties in the name of security.

It doesn't take an illuminati-conspiracy-theory-touting-nutcase to see the similarities in the events of the past with what is happening in America today.

On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked by a handful of terrorists, causing significant loss of life and public outrage. Following 9-11, the White House led by President Bush, the Justice Department led by Attorney General Ashcroft, and the Republican controlled US Congress enacted a series of Executive Orders, regulations, and laws that have seriously undermined our civil liberties. Among the casualties of this "War on Terror" have been the checks and balances that are essential to the structure of our democratic government, and indeed, democracy itself.

The Constitution of the United States separates the federal government into three distinct branches and provides a system of "checks and balances" that prevent any one branch of government from accumulating excessive power.

The President, by using Executive Orders and emergency interim agency regulations as his tools of choice for combating terrorism, has deliberately chosen methodologies that are largely outside the purview of both the legislature and the judiciary. These Executive Orders and agency regulations violate the U.S. Constitution, the laws of the United States, and international and humanitarian law.

As a result, the war on terror is largely being conducted by Executive decree and the constitutional guarantees of both citizens and non-citizens alike have been seriously compromised.

In addition, the actions of the government have been shrouded in a cloak of secrecy that is incompatible with an open democratic government of the people.

Hundreds of non-citizens have been rounded up and detained, many for months, in violation of constitutional protections, judicial decisional authority and INS policy. The Justice Department has repeatedly refused to provide any information on the status of these prisoners to loved ones, lawyers or the press.

In a democracy, the actions of the government must be transparent or our ability to vote on policies and the people who create those policies becomes meaningless.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the government's actions has been its attack on the Bill of Rights, the very cornerstone of our American democracy. The War on Terror has seriously compromised the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights of citizens and non-citizens alike. From the USA PATRIOT Act's over-broad definition of domestic terrorism, to the FBI's new powers of search and surveillance, to the indefinite detention of both citizens and non- citizens without formal charges, the principles of free speech, due process, and equal protection under the law have been seriously undermined.

The result of all of these actions has been the deliberate, persistent, and unnecssary erosion of the basic rights that protect every citizen and non-citizen in the United States. A free society demands the rule of law. Without it, democracy is meaningless. The government has consistently refused to recognize the protections afforded by the US Constitution, and in doing so, it has failed in its responsibility to maintain a democratic society that is both open to, and accountable to, the people. 

What is the USA PATRIOT Act?

Just six weeks after the September 11 attacks, a panicked Congress passed the "USA/Patriot Act," an overnight revision of the nation's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court.

Why Congress passed the Patriot Act

Most of the changes to surveillance law made by the Patriot Act were part of a longstanding law enforcement wish list that had been previously rejected by Congress, in some cases repeatedly. Congress reversed course because it was bullied into it by the Bush Administration in the frightening weeks after the September 11 attack.

The Senate version of the Patriot Act, which closely resembled the legislation requested by Attorney General John Ashcroft, was sent straight to the floor with no discussion, debate, or hearings. Many senators complained that they had little chance to read it, much less analyze it, before having to vote. In the House, hearings were held, and a carefully constructed compromise bill emerged from the Judiciary Committee. But then, with no debate or consultation with rank-and-file members, the House leadership threw out the compromise bill and replaced it with legislation that mirrored the Senate version. Neither discussion nor amendments were permitted, and once again members barely had time to read the thick bill before they were forced to cast an up-or-down vote on it. The Bush Administration implied that members who voted against it would be blamed for any further attacks - a powerful threat at a time when the nation was expecting a second attack to come any moment and when reports of new anthrax letters were appearing daily.

Congress and the Administration acted without any careful or systematic effort to determine whether weaknesses in our surveillance laws had contributed to the attacks, or whether the changes they were making would help prevent further attacks. Indeed, many of the act's provisions have nothing at all to do with terrorism.

The Patriot Act increases the governments surveillance powers in four areas:

Records searches. It expands the government's ability to look at records on an individual's activity being held by a third party. (Section 215)

Secret searches. It expands the government's ability to search private property without notice to the owner. (Section 213)

Intelligence searches. It expands a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment that had been created for the collection of foreign intelligence information (Section 218).

"Trap and trace" searches. It expands another Fourth Amendment exception for spying that collects "addressing" information about the origin and destination of communications, as opposed to the content. (Section 214)

Each of these areas will be discussed in more detail in this 5-part series.

Other articles by Jake Morphonios:

Ron Paul's Meeting with Rogue Farmers

How to Write a Powerful Letter to Congress

Reasons Why Ron Paul Opposes a National ID Card

Dozens more articles by Jake Morphonios may be found here:

The Liberty Tree

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2008 Jake Morphonios, all rights reserved.
Published: Monday, March 24, 2008
Last modified: Monday, March 24, 2008

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