The official blog of the Libertarian Party
September 10, 2007
Judge strikes down parts of Patriot Act
Constitution Scores a Victory
A U.S. District Court Judge in New York struck down parts of the Patriot Act at the end of the last week, calling the provisions unconstitutional.
The secrecy provisions are "the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values," Marrero wrote. His strongly worded 103-page opinion amounted to a rebuke of both the administration and Congress, which had revised the act in 2005 to take into account an earlier ruling by the judge on the same topic.
The government is expected to appeal the decision, but in the meantime, Judge Victor Marrero's acrimonious rebuke of the FBI's "national security letter" program could curtail the use of NSLs, which demand that companies turn over records and data on individuals and then prohibits these companies from talking about it publicly. It is suspected that tens of thousands of these NSLs have been issued over the years.
"The risk of investing the FBI with unchecked discretion to restrict such speech is that government agents, based on their own self-certification, may limit speech that does not pose a significant threat to national security or other compelling government interest," Marrero said.
Posted by Andrew Davis at September 10, 2007 01:42 PM
Reader Comments:
test..still some hideous stifling, filtering, editting, etc. going on at the site of the Party of Principle?!
Not my posts. Must be a Clark paid-by-the-RNC (that's my guess) poster thing.
//IF// Clark is being censored by the author of the blog, I for one would feel better about it with one of the two following:
1) The censorship is revoked and the author requests Clark to simply no longer comment at all
2) The author announce -- via comments in a thread is sufficient -- that he has done so to a regular commenter.
I //request// these only because to do otherwise seems to smack against the open-air "authority" imperative of 'honest libertarianism'. How can we expect our leaders to use authority with openness and honesty if we ourselves won't do the same?
That being said -- I, for one, couldn't be happier if Clark himself were censored. I guess this is just a... principle of the thing for me.
Whodathunk?
Finally some great news. Although like you said "the government is expected to appeal the decision". Yeah and they'll probably win the appeal too.
..it seems some people get real mad at me and/or want to ban me because i expose their ignorance about money/money issuance..
..and after all, it is a tough thing to admit you're a gd fool as to 'money'..esp. if you try to pass yourself off as a knowledgeable person worth being listened to as to 'government,' 'politics,' etc.!..
We NEED Clark to be allowed to post his thoughts in full. Sometimes they become repetitive and dare I say annoying, but his views are as valid as anyone else's.
Hooray for the judge's ruling. We could stand about another 100 rulings like that in quick succession.
Another example of +10, -1. This might be a positive step, but it's still just a straw dog. Provisions of the Patriot Act aren't the problem. The legislation itself should simply be repealed.
give me a river full of trout, some seeds, land no one visits, and a home made out of a cave, and I would be the happiest man in the world.
DEATH TO THE PATRIOT ACT
Great news !! It's about time for another victory for the Constitution, for a change. However, the Patriot Act is a sham from the get-go, and simply needs to be thrown in the incinerator. Its only purpose, as we've seen, is to impede the rights of ordinary Americans, who have done nothing wrong.
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Great news!
Posted by: Joe M. at September 10, 2007 10:55 PM