Further Information about PATRIOT I

The act creates a broadly defined new crime of “domestic terrorism.” It allows lawful advocacy groups to be labeled “terrorist bodies” and be subject to surveillance, harassment, and criminal action. The act also allows the government to prosecute librarians or keepers of other records if they reveal that the government has requested information from them during the course of an investigation.

The government can now monitor the activities of religious and political institutions and infiltrate them without any suspicion or proof of criminal activity. This freedom was previously guaranteed under the First Amendment Freedom of Association. This means that any individual can be targeted for government investigation because of the political or activist groups they are involved with or because of the statements that they make at group meetings.

The act also actively encourages all government officials to resist granting access to government records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The act also allows the government to conduct secret immigration hearings that have caused the deportation of hundreds of immigrants. Previously, these meetings were open to the public.

The PATRIOT act ends this year. President Bush and his administration have already made its renewal a top priority. The proposed PATRIOT Act II would be even more egregiously intrusive than the PATRIOT Act I.

Links and Resources:

The New York Bill of Rights Defense Committee www.nybordc.org
The American Civil Liberties Union www.aclu.org
The Immigration Forum www.immigrationforum.org
Hate Free Zone www.hatefreezone.org
American Immigration Lawyers Association www.aila.org
National Immigration Law Center www.nilc.org
Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee www.adc.org
Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
Amnesty International- USA www.amnestyusa.org
The Family Violence Prevention Fund www.endabuse.org