RE: Patriot Act Being Used to Harrass BlackBoxVoting.org website

[tom bldr <tom_bldr@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bev Harris also posted the story in a messageboard
thread at democraticunderground.com today, to 100+
replies (caution: partisan link!):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1493426

As to Patriot Act abuses, here's a telling story from
today's WaPo: "Patriot Act Suppresses News Of
Challenge to Patriot Act"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51423-2004Apr28.html

Pasting it here to spare you the registration hoops:
(snip)

Patriot Act Suppresses News Of Challenge to Patriot
Act

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 29, 2004; Page A17

The American Civil Liberties Union disclosed yesterday
that it filed a lawsuit three weeks ago challenging
the FBI's methods of obtaining many business records,
but the group was barred from revealing even the
existence of the case until now.
	

The lawsuit was filed April 6 in U.S. District Court
in Manhattan, but the case was kept under seal to
avoid violating secrecy rules contained in the USA
Patriot Act, the ACLU said. The group was allowed to
release a redacted version of the lawsuit after weeks
of negotiations with the government.

"It is remarkable that a gag provision in the Patriot
Act kept the public in the dark about the mere fact
that a constitutional challenge had been filed in
court," Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal
director, said in a statement. "President Bush can
talk about extending the life of the Patriot Act, but
the ACLU is still gagged from discussing details of
our challenge to it."

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on
the case.

The ACLU alleges that a section of the act is
unconstitutional because it allows the FBI to request
financial records and other documents from businesses
without a warrant or judicial approval. The group also
says such requests, known as "national security
letters," are being used much more broadly than they
were before the Patriot Act.

The bureau has issued scores of the letters since late
2001 that require businesses to turn over electronic
records about finances, telephone calls, e-mail and
other personal information, according to previously
released documents. The letters, a type of
administrative subpoena, may be issued independently
by FBI field offices and are not subject to judicial
review unless a case comes to court.

The ACLU's complaint focuses on the use of national
security letters to obtain information held by
"electronic communication service providers." The
group says the letters could force Internet providers
to turn over names, screen names, e-mail addresses and
other customer information without proper notice to
the people involved.

The lawsuit names as defendants Attorney General John
D. Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and
FBI Senior Counsel Marion E. "Spike" Bowman. A second
plaintiff has joined the ACLU in filing the lawsuit,
but that plaintiff's identity has been redacted from
the public copy of the complaint.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company




	
		
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