11/10/05: FBI Actions Show We Need To Be Concerned About Patriot Act - Timothy Bauer

FBI Actions Show We Need To Be Concerned About Patriot Act

Dear Editor: For those still gleefully believing that the Patriot Act is free from breaches of civil liberties, I ask that they consider the following.

Craig Windham of National Public Radio reports that the FBI has been using a provision of the Patriot Act to gather information on tens of thousands of ordinary American civilians; the information is stored in government databanks. Demanding a vast scope of personal and financial information, the Patriot Act allows the FBI use of "national security letters." First used decades ago originally for terrorist and espionage investigations, the provision allows the FBI to conduct searches on plain people having never been alleged to be a terrorist or spy.

Quoting government sources, The Washington Post reports that the FBI has been issuing over 30,000 of these request letters a year, which is more than 100 times the number traditionally sought before the Patriot Act. What's worse, the bureau needs no approval at all, be it from a judge, grand jury or prosecutor, and Congress has voted to make criminal any failure to produce the requested information.

Congressman Robert Barr, a Republican from Georgia, is quoted by the Post as saying that the provision allows no checks and balances; if a bureaucrat seeks personal information on someone, there is nothing barring him or her access to it.

This may not be Big Brother - yet -- but it sure is Someone watching you.