ScrappleFace has more on the Patriot Act II, including the Glass Houses Provision. [link via Instapundit]

Update: On a more serious note, Warblogging says:

Fortunately the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 hasn't become law yet. Fortunately it hasn't even been sent to Congress yet (beyond the copies sent to Speaker Hastert and Vice President Cheney). But it will be sent, mark my words. It must be defeated. I say again, must be defeated.

Please write your congressmen, write your senators. Write to anyone who will listen. Call CNN, call the New York Times and USA Today. Tell them that you demand prime time and front page coverage of DSEA. Tell them that you want analysis of how this law effects civil liberties in this country.

Tell them that you're an American, that you want to be free. [link via The Agonist]

[comments now closed]

For an an in-depth, section-by section analysis of the Patriot Act, for only $19.00, check out Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001: An Analysis by Stanley Mailman; Jeralyn E. Merritt; Theresa M. B. Van Vliet; Stephen Yale-Loehr (published by Lexis Publishing and available on line through the link above.)

"It contains expert analysis of the important substantive changes included in the Uniting and Strenthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-56, 115 Stat. 272. The organization of the pamphlet tracks the legislation, broken down into sections discussing the statute's provisions with respect to each of the following topics:

enhanced surveillance procedures
money laundering and financial crimes
protecting the border
investigation of terrorism
providing for the victims of terrorism, public safety officers, and their families
information sharing among federal and state authorities
strengthening the criminal laws against terrorism
improved intelligence

The authors describe the important changes made by the legislation and analyze the potential impact of those changes--both positive and negative."

We are a proud co-author of the work. Trust us, none of the sections we wrote, which include the conclusion, say anything positive about the Act.

Key details of Patriot Act II (the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003) include:

Section 201, "Prohibition of Disclosure of Terrorism Investigation Detainee Information": Safeguarding the dissemination of information related to national security has been a hallmark of Ashcroft's first two years in office, and the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 follows in the footsteps of his October 2001 directive to carefully consider such interest when granting Freedom of Information Act requests. While the October memo simply encouraged FOIA officers to take national security, "protecting sensitive business information and, not least, preserving personal privacy" into account while deciding on requests, the proposed legislation would enhance the department's ability to deny releasing material on suspected terrorists in government custody through FOIA.

Section 202, "Distribution of 'Worst Case Scenario' Information": This would introduce new FOIA restrictions with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency. As provided for in the Clean Air Act, the EPA requires private companies that use potentially dangerous chemicals must produce a "worst case scenario" report detailing the effect that the release of these controlled substances would have on the surrounding community. Section 202 of this Act would, however, restrict FOIA requests to these reports, which the bill's drafters refer to as "a roadmap for terrorists." By reducing public access to "read-only" methods for only those persons "who live and work in the geographical area likely to be affected by a worst-case scenario," this subtitle would obfuscate an established level of transparency between private industry and the public.

The Bush Administration is proposing sweeping enhancements to the Patriot Act. They are seeking greater powers so they can

increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information.

The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a draft of the proposed changes, and has published it here.

The Justice Department released a statement saying that they had not sent anything to Aschroft or the White House. But a "control sheet" of the Office of Legislative Affairs shows that a copy of the proposed bill was sent to Cheney and House Speaker Hastert.

According to terrorism law expert and Georgetown Law Professor David Cole, author of Terrorism and the Constitution,

This proposed law, he added, “would radically expand law enforcement and intelligence gathering authorities, reduce or eliminate judicial oversight over surveillance, authorize secret arrests, create a DNA database based on unchecked executive ‘suspicion,’ create new death penalties, and even seek to take American citizenship away from persons who belong to or support disfavored political groups.” Cole found it disturbing that there have been no consultations with Congress on the draft legislation. “It raises a lot of serious concerns and is troubling as a generic matter that they have gotten this far along and tell people that there is nothing in the works. What that suggests is that they’re waiting for a propitious time to introduce it, which might well be when a war is begun. At that time there would be less opportunity for discussion and they’ll have a much stronger hand in saying that they need these right away.”

Again, you can read the Government's legislative "wish list" here, but be patient, it's getting a lot of hits and is slow in loading.

Lisa English of Ruminate This asks, Where's the Coverage?. We want to know too. We'll try to follow up this weekend.

Received from NORML for those who want to keep track of or lobby their elected officials on marijuana legislation:

This has been one of the busiest years for marijuana related legislative activity in recent memory. After only one month, medical marijuana, decriminalization and industrial hemp bills have been introduced in ten states, and NORML has information that legislation will soon be introduced in at least five additional states. To keep track of all marijuana related legislation, please visit here.

To make it easy for constituents to write their legislators, NORML has created pre-written letters that visitors to our website can send free of charge to their legislators. It is crucial that concerned citizens contact their elected officials, as far too often legislators justify their lack of support for marijuana legislation by saying that their constituents do not support it.

In order to maximize the number of people who have access to these letters,
NORML has created customized webstickers, complete with marijuana leaves and the NORML logo, for all of our affiliates and supporters to feature on their websites. Website visitors can enter their zip codes directly into the websticker and they will be instantly appraised of any pending marijuana related legislation in their state legislature or Congress. For those of you who wish to take a more conservative approach, we also have webstickers emblazoned with images of flags and monuments.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley can afford Soldier's Field and other expensive projects, but he says Chicago can't afford justice. We expect more from the mayor under whose watch police-tortured confessions occurred.

An ordinance was introduced before the Chicago City Council Wednesday to require videotaping of interrogation, the best means of detecting and preventing false and coerced confession. "They would be sealed, preserved for at least 10 years and made available only when needed for trial, for "evidentiary purposes," or upon request by the suspect."

Alderman Richard Burke pointed out,

...Chicago can no longer afford not to videotape interrogations and that the courts or the Legislature could impose it. In the meantime, suspects who claim their confessions were coerced will sue the city and win multimillion-dollar settlements. That could make the cost of setting up one or more interview rooms in all six police areas--at a cost of $25,000 per room--then training officers to run and staff the equipment seem small, the alderman said."

Here's one of our prior posts explaining why videotaping interrogations, contrary to Daley's claims, would further both justice and police investigations .

Don't miss Instapundit Glenn Reynolds and Dave Kopel in Feel Like Dancing? over at NRO today on Tom Daschle's sneaky attempt to pass the anti-Rave Act--by calling it the Crack House Statute Amendments and burying it in a terrorism bill called "Justice Enhancement and Domestic Security Act of 2003" (S. 22). Here's a taste:

The Daschle bill extends the federal "crackhouse law" — which makes it illegal to maintain a building for purposes of drug consumption — to cover musical performances and other events of a temporary nature, and to make liable even those who make their premises available at no charge. The idea is to make the promoters of musical events liable for drug consumption at those events — even when the consumption is entirely incidental, and has nothing to do with any action by the promoters. The legislation is, in effect, an admission of failure by the Drug Enforcement Agency: Unable to control drug use, it's looking to force concert promoters and theaters to do it, on pain of imprisonment.

The potential prison term: Up to 20 years.

We've also written about this in detail here.

P.S. We're behind on our news update on the left side of TalkLeft, we'll get to it this afternoon. And if you're watching the "Shoe-bomber" sentencing today at 2pm EST, we hope you will watch it on Fox News--we'll be there.

The Federal Government is demanding that high schools provide them with names of students, to be used for military recruitment. Schools are worried.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, which was passed more than a year ago, schools face new requirements on testing and the hiring of teachers. But many school districts are only now coming to terms with a little-noticed provision in the law dealing with military recruiters. That provision requires schools that receive federal aid to give military recruiters the names, addresses, and phone number of high school juniors and seniors, and to provide military recruiters with the same access to students as employers and college recruiters get. There is an exception, though. Students and parents must be given an opportunity to request that the information be withheld."

So spread the word, you have a right to refuse.

Two new studies are questioning the viability of a proposal for Gun 'Fingerprinting' . The first study, by the California Department of Justice, concluded that "recording every firearm made and sold in the nation's most populous state could be overwhelming....the number of potential computer matches in the state will be so large as to be impractical," and further, that "a large proportion" of weapons couldn't be recorded, and that each gun's markings change with routine use and can be easily altered.

The report was submitted to the ATF which, not suprisingly, disagreed with it. But it was also submitted to an independent ballistics expert at the National Institute for Forensic Science in Belgium--and their expert agreed with the California study. The Belgian expert concluded that "the system tested was ineffective in a third to two-thirds of test firings," and "the situation worsens as the number of firearms in the database is increased."

Based on the California study and findings of the Belgian expert, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is expected to tell state lawmakers that "a statewide database for large-scale ballistics comparisons is not currently practical and to recommend more research and development."

Via Lisa English at Ruminate This: Rep.Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) introduced legislation last week that aims to repeal the unprecedented authority Congress gave George Bush last fall...the power to declare war whenever and for whatever reason. Jackson Lee and her co-sponsors in the House, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Diane Watson (D-CA) need your support. Pick up the phone, dial your representatives ( 1-800-839-5276), and let them know you want to repeal the authorization for use of force against Iraq. That's 1-800-839-5276

Newly Elected Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ( R ) said last week he would sign legislation to legalize medical marijuana, "giving new hope to advocates who say the drug can help relieve nausea from chemotherapy and other debilitating conditions."

"A doctor, a nurse and a cancer survivor are among the lawmakers drafting marijuana bills.
Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Dist. 11) of Owings Mills, a physician, wants to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana under strict controls. Two doctors would have to sign off on the prescription and follow up to see how patients are responding to treatment."

"Morhaim envisions the state government eventually growing and distributing marijuana to ensure consistent quality and control."

"We prescribe drugs much more dangerous than marijuana," Morhaim said. "We prescribe narcotics, we even prescribe cocaine on occasion. Like any medical tool, it's going to help some people and not others."

If Maryland enacts a medical marijuana bill, it could have a national impact, "both because Ehrlich is a Republican and because Maryland would be one of the first states on the East Coast to pass medical marijuana legislation. It also would put the issue directly on Congress' doorstep."

Marijuana use is thought to benefit patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, nausea, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

Erlich is not a johnny-come-lately to the issue. While serving in Congress, he was one of a few Republicans to co-sponsor a medical marijuana bill introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA.)

Update: In other medical marijuana news, students at the University of Missouri have gathered enough petition signatures to force a vote before the City Council on legalizing marijuana for medical use. On Tuesday, the Council will vote either to pass the measure or put it before the voters on April 8.

The proposal was written by law student Anthony Johnson. According to Johnson, the measure also decriminalizes personal possession of small amounts of pot.