Every time I hear about the patriot act, I can't believe it was ever passed. This time is no different. Taken from Schneier's cryptogram it raises a good point about how this law is being used for reasons it was not meant to be used for. A good case of poorly worded law, if you ask me. Here it is:
The Patriot Act and Mission CreepOne of the problems with laws is that the crimes that justify their passage are not always the crimes they are used against. In the United States, the RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations) law was passed to help fight organized crime, but was used against anti-abortion protesters and relatively minor drug offenders. And the Patriot Act, passed to help fight terrorism, is being used against a variety of other crimes.
According to a TRAC report, definitions of "terrorism" have broadened considerably. The AP reports that the Justice Department admits that the Patriot Act has been used "to crack down on currency smugglers and seize money hidden overseas by alleged bookies, con artists, and drug dealers." So someone with a pipe bomb in California is suddenly charged with "terrorism using a weapon of mass destruction," and a North Carolina man who had a methamphetamine lab is suddenly charged with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. The Justice Department has even been conducting seminars on how to use the new wiretapping provisions in the Patriot Act in non-terrorism cases.
It's a big deal. The guy with the meth lab could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that, under the old laws, was only worth about six months. The Patriot Act was hurriedly passed less than two months after 9/11 with almost no debate. That was a mistake, but it echoed the national mood about terrorism. Having the law applied broadly against common criminals is something that we shouldn't do lightly. Security is a trade-off, and the trade-offs in the Patriot Act were extreme. Maybe treating drug dealers like terrorists is something Americans want. But we should debate it in public, and not let the Justice Department sneak it by us.
Report: "Criminal Enforcement Against Terrorists and Spies in the Year After the 9/11 Attacks":
I'm not even getting into the wiretaps on suspected terrorists without courts approval mess.
and aren't our prisons full enough without suddenly sending people there for longer terms. Oh, wait. Building new prisons is a GOOD thing.I always forget that. More prisons! Yay!
Posted by: Trix at October 17, 2003 12:53 PMDon't even get me started on the evil that is the Patriot Act. It's a Constitutional abomination on so many levels. They might have well just titled it the 'Gestapo Act.' At least that way the American public would have a more accurate idea of what's coming.
A little note to put that meth lab prison sentence in perspective: In CA, the sentence for second degree murder (killing someone intentionally with malice aforethought) is 15 years to life. Wow... make meth instead and we'll bump your minimum sentence down a whole three years. What does that say about societal values? Making meth which people may, of their own free will, consume illegally and intentionally taking someone's life are essentially equally legally and (since laws are tools to enforce societal values) morally culpable. Bravo. I love my country.