What has the PATRIOT Act done, anyway?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-02-22 10:25pm

I keep hearing about how the PATRIOT act is the death of justice in America. But what exactly does it allow the government to do?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-02-22 10:27pm

Place unconstitutional wiretaps and such on you.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-02-22 10:30pm

Read your e-mail.

Post by **AdmiralKanos** » 2003-02-22 10:32pm

I'm not sure if it also allows them to indefinitely imprison people suspected of terrorism without due process. They've been doing this already, but it's not clear whether the Patriot act made it legal or whether Asscroft is merely thumbing his nose at the law.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2003-02-22 10:36pm

The last part I can answear you Wong, Its Asscroft thumbing his nose at the Law and he will get burned from it a year from now assuming he can't corrupt the Supreme Court as there are half a dozen cases pending to them soon that deal with the Patriot act inculding two fellows held without bail for fourty two days before they got to see their Lawyer as the Feds firmed up their case aginst them

So far it seems they are Gulity as sin but their rights where still torn to shreads and it seems likley that Parriot Act Part I is going to be struck down

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-02-22 10:44pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm not sure if it also allows them to indefinitely imprison people suspected of terrorism without due process. They've been doing this already, but it's not clear whether the Patriot act made it legal or whether Asscroft is merely thumbing his nose at the law.

That Padilla kid, right?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-02-22 10:56pm

Has anyone actually been arrested under it's terms, or has it so far been just sorta 'there'?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-02-23 01:14am

I guess it was supposed to detain thousands of people for little or no reason and violate constitutional rights all while to goes unnoticed while the media's whining about war, the envirnoment, and "tax cuts for the rich".

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2003-02-23 01:37am

Oh yes the spending cuts to augment consumer spending in a part of the ppulation that consumes all that it wants already great idea. Why not just burn money and through the ashs at poor people, more wealth would be getting to them that way.
There is plenty to whine about the gov already, give the press some time to get its bearings. The Daily Show did a little bit about the new privacy cuts too.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-02-23 03:44am

SyntaxVorlon wrote:Oh yes the spending cuts to augment consumer spending in a part of the ppulation that consumes all that it wants already great idea. Why not just burn money and through the ashs at poor people, more wealth would be getting to them that way.
There is plenty to whine about the gov already, give the press some time to get its bearings. The Daily Show did a little bit about the new privacy cuts too.

Stephen Colbert's "So You're Living in a Police State." Utterly hilarious. The man is a genius.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-02-23 11:21am

Durandal wrote:
SyntaxVorlon wrote:Oh yes the spending cuts to augment consumer spending in a part of the ppulation that consumes all that it wants already great idea. Why not just burn money and through the ashs at poor people, more wealth would be getting to them that way.
There is plenty to whine about the gov already, give the press some time to get its bearings. The Daily Show did a little bit about the new privacy cuts too.
Stephen Colbert's "So You're Living in a Police State." Utterly hilarious. The man is a genius.

What is terrible, is that it's true

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2003-02-23 02:23pm

I think Ashcroft is the person who has most endangered American Freedoms since... actually... King George III.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-02-23 02:38pm

Pablo Sanchez wrote:I think Ashcroft is the person who has most endangered American Freedoms since... actually... King George III.

As much as I hate Asscroft, I think that Joe McCarthy proved much more dangerous, as he actually got away with all his shit. PATRIOT Act With a Vengeance was struck down by Congress, if memory serves.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2003-02-23 04:20pm

Durandal wrote:As much as I hate Asscroft, I think that Joe McCarthy proved much more dangerous, as he actually got away with all his shit. PATRIOT Act With a Vengeance was struck down by Congress, if memory serves.

True, but McCarthy was an idiot and drunkard. He didn't actually have a quasi-fascist plan to chip away at American freedoms, he was just aiming for self-aggrandizement. The only way McCarthy could have been a real danger is if he had had someone smart around him to use him as a tool. Nobody was brilliant or evil enough at the time.