fjolnirsson
Member
I know almost everybody here seems to have an opinion on the patriot act. Some of us think it's a violation of the Constitution, others don't. Others think it is, but a necessary one. What do you guys think of this?
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Secret law, secret lawsuit
To no one's surprise, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit challenging the constitutionality of parts of the USA Patriot Act, the sweeping security law passed in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.
To what should be everyone's shock, the mere fact of the lawsuit was kept secret under provisions of the act.
"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," said the ACLU. Remarkable and also scary.
The lawsuit was sealed for over three weeks while the ACLU and the government haggled over what the ACLU could and could not say publicly about its lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in New York on April 6 and a heavily edited version was released on April 28.
One of the secrets is the other plaintiff in the case, identified only as an "Internet access business." The FBI, through a National Security Letter, apparently was seeking from an Internet service provider a client's billing information, online purchases and e-mail addresses.
For the whole article, go here:
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/04/30/edita043004.html
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Secret law, secret lawsuit
To no one's surprise, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit challenging the constitutionality of parts of the USA Patriot Act, the sweeping security law passed in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.
To what should be everyone's shock, the mere fact of the lawsuit was kept secret under provisions of the act.
"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," said the ACLU. Remarkable and also scary.
The lawsuit was sealed for over three weeks while the ACLU and the government haggled over what the ACLU could and could not say publicly about its lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in New York on April 6 and a heavily edited version was released on April 28.
One of the secrets is the other plaintiff in the case, identified only as an "Internet access business." The FBI, through a National Security Letter, apparently was seeking from an Internet service provider a client's billing information, online purchases and e-mail addresses.
For the whole article, go here:
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/04/30/edita043004.html