Looks like the turncoats in D.C. are at it again...
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Subject: Urgent Alert: Congress on verge of authorizing warrantless secret
searches
By Dave Kopel
Independence Institute, http://i2i.org
[Advance draft of article scheduled for publication in National Review
Online,
http://www.nationalreview.com]
Please feel free to forward.
No person's liberty is safe in the last week of Congress-traditionally a
time when civil liberties invasions such as wire-tapping, gun prohibitions,
and the like are snuck through in the final frantic hours, with no
opportunity for public opposition. This Congress is no exception. As soon as
Tuesday, the House may vote on a bill, which has already passed the Senate,
to drastically expand government power to conduct secret searches without
judicial approval.
The bill in question comes from Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Orrin
Hatch (R-Utah). It is S. 2516, "The Fugitive Apprehension Act." The bill
allows the government to obtain any kind of document it wants, without first
getting a search warrant or a subpoena from a court. These documents include
any written or electronic document possessed by an individual-or possessed
by a third party (such as bank records, credit card records, telephone
records, school records, or an Internet Service Provider's customer
records). In other words, the bill guts the Fourth Amendment requirement
that private documents should be searched only after a court issues a
warrant based upon probable cause.
Even worse, section 3(g) of the bill allows these document seizures to be
conducted secretly, so that the individual might never be told that his bank
records, Internet records, or other documents have been searched by the
government.
The bill currently applies to apprehension of "fugitives," which include
people who have been charged (not convicted) of a crime, at both the federal
or state level. In other words, if your wife's second cousin never showed up
in court for his drunk driving trial, the government could look at your bank
records, telephone records, Internet records, and every other document about
you-without a court order, and without ever telling you.
There is no law enforcement need for this provision. Under the All Writs
Act, a United States Attorney can go to court, and present reasons why he
needs access to private records. If the court agrees (it almost always
does), the court issues a subpoena to obtain the records. This system is
working well, and, notably, the United States Attorneys are not asking to
change the law.
Even so, there is a very strong chance that S. 2516 will become law next
week, unless Congress hears of widespread opposition. The American Civil
Liberties Union, which is leading the fight against the bill on Capitol
Hill, is urging to citizens to contact their Representatives and their
Senators over the weekend and on Tuesday morning, in every way possible: at
town hall meetings, by calling DC and local Congressional offices, and by
sending e-mail or faxes. Because House Speaker Dennis Hastert has great
discretion over whether to bring S. 2516 to the House floor, King urges
people all over the U.S. to call his office.
The main Congressman opposing S. 2516 is Representative Bob Barr
(R-Georgia). The very conservative Barr is a former United States Attorney,
and one of the most prominent "law and order" Republicans in Congress-as
shown by his leadership in the effort to impeach President Clinton. While
the ACLU is generally considered liberal, and Barr conservative, both agree
that protecting the Fourth Amendment transcends party or ideology.
Should S. 2516 become law, it would set a precedent for warrantless, secret
searches on other subjects-including firearms laws. This is one reason why
Barr, one of the staunchest Second Amendment defenders in Congress, is
opposing the bill.
There is also a possibility that S. 2516 may be snuck through as an
amendment to HR 3048, "The Presidential Protection Act of 2000." Of course
S. 2516 has nothing to do with Presidential Protection. Instead, the bill is
about constitutional destruction.
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