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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Patriot Act

Patriot Act stories: 16 news summaries
OPINION

 Mukasey: Now's No Time
to Weaken Patriot Act

Terror arrests show that national security needs trump privacy worries

Oct 2, 09 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The arrests last week of Najibullah Zazi and other terror suspects should make lawmakers think twice about making intelligence-gathering more difficult for those trying to keep America safe from terrorist attacks, writes Michael Mukasey. Congressional Democrats are considering imposing new requirements on Patriot Act provisions when they come up for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
national security • terror plots • surveillance • terrorist • wiretap • Patriot Act • Michael Mukasey • electronic surveillance laws • Najibullah Zazi

Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions

Administration tells Congress it wants to renew surveillance laws

Sep 16, 09 3:30 AM CDT
(AP) - The Obama administration supports extending three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year,  AP reports. The Justice Department tells Congress in a letter they will back preserving the post-9/11 law's authority to access business records, monitor so-called "lone... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • American Civil Liberties Union • domestic surveillance • surveillance • Patriot Act • wiretapping • Obama administration • President Obama

 US Brands Refugees 
 'Terrorists', Denies Asylum 

All armed groups considered "terrorists"

Jul 26, 09 4:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Refugees hoping to stay in America are SOL if they backed armed movements back home—even if they fought dictators or have since worked for the United States, McClatchy reports. Following a Patriot Act provision, officials have denied more than 7,000 requests for green cards, refugee status, and asylum... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Bush administration • Zimbabwe • Ethiopia • dictatorship • Patriot Act • refugee • Burma • Obama administration • political asylum

Patriot Act Treats Unruly Passengers as Terrorists

In-flight ruckus can
draw felony conviction

Jan 20, 09 5:57 PM CST
(Newser) - What sounds like a fair punishment for spanking your children on a plane and having an argument with a flight attendant? How about a felony conviction, 3 months in prison, and the loss of custody of your children? As unreal as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened to one... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Terror • terrorism • flight • felony • airline • Patriot Act • drunk

Al-Qaeda
Works Cheap,
Stays Hidden

Cells dodge dragnet by
avoiding traceable transactions

Aug 24, 08 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - International efforts to cut off terrorists from funding have failed because al-Qaeda cells operate cheaply and independently, avoiding official funding channels, experts say. While the US and its allies have focused on freezing bank accounts and monitoring financial transactions, operatives build $15 bombs, drum up hard-to-trace cash through illegal scams,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
September 11 • counterterrorism • Patriot Act • London bombings • al-Qaeda • terrorism financing

Chavez Takes Over Intelligence Agencies

Extends domestic spying and requires citizens to be informers

Jun 3, 08 10:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has ordered a draconian restructuring of Venezuela’s intelligence agencies, bringing them under his personal control, increasing domestic spying powers, and levying prison sentences on citizens who decline to cooperate, the New York Times reports. One justice on Venezuela’s top court expressed outrage, calling it “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Venezuela • intelligence • domestic intelligence • Patriot Act • Hugo Chávez • government spying • informant

Taliban 'Narco Terrorist' Convicted
in US Court

Afghan plotted to use drug profits to fight US

May 16, 08 4:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Taliban militant has become the first person convicted under a "narco-terrorism" provision of the Patriot Act, Reuters reports. The Afghan man was busted by DEA agents for plotting to ship heroin to the US and use the proceeds to buy weapons to use against American and coalition forces.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Taliban • terrorism • drugs • heroin • drug trafficking • opium • Patriot Act • terrorism financing

Facing Suit,
FBI Drops
Secret Order

Feds sought user's activity records from Internet archive

May 8, 08 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Facing a lawsuit, the FBI has withdrawn a secret order demanding that an Internet library turn over a user's records—only the third time the bureau has backed down from such a demand, known as a "national security letter." The San Francisco-based Internet Archive, which stores old versions... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FBI • online privacy • national security letters • Patriot Act • Internet Archive

Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years

Federal prosecutors will appeal for more prison time

Jan 22, 08 12:45 PM CST
(Newser) - A federal judge sentenced Jose Padilla to 17 years and 4 months today following his conviction for conspiring to commit murder and otherwise aid Islamic terrorists around the world, the Miami Herald reports. Although the court invoked “terrorism enhancement” to lengthen the sentences of Padilla and his two co-conspirators,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
terrorism • Jose Padilla • Patriot Act • Islamic Jihad

Fed Judge
Rules Against Patriot Act

Nixes two key provisions that allow secret search without probable cause

Sep 27, 07 6:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Key provisions of the Patriot Act allowing secret searches have been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. In the case of Portland lawyer Brandon Mayfield, whose home and office were secretly raided after he was mistakenly linked to bombings in Madrid, a US District judge found that search warrants were... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • Patriot Act • Fourth Amendment • Brandon Mayfield • Ann Aiken • Elden Rosenthal • constitutional law

Russia and China Spying at Cold War Levels, Top Spy Warns

Patriot Act not enough, he tells lawmakers

Sep 18, 07 9:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - China and Russia are spying on the US at nearly cold war levels, the nation's top spy told lawmakers today. Vice Admiral McConnell defended the Patriot Act as necessary for US defense and asked Congress to give intelligence agencies even greater eavesdropping powers. His  testimony comes weeks after an alleged... More »

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China • Russia • Congress • Pentagon • Cold War • Patriot Act • hackers • spying • eavesdropping

The Right’s Beef With Mukasey? The Left Doesn’t Hate Him

Slate says GOP is perversely partisan

Sep 18, 07 7:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - The GOP is uneasy with Bush’s choice for attorney general, but only because liberals don't despise him, says Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick. Unlike Roberts and Alito, Michael Mukasey doesn’t know “all 17 twists in the Federalist Society's secret handshake”—leaving open the chance that he might... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • War on Terror • Samuel Alito • John Roberts • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Patriot Act • Michael Mukasey • Joe Padilla • Federalist Society

Judge: Parts of Patriot Act Unconstitutional

Revised legislation violates separation of powers, 1st Amendment

Sep 6, 07 4:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Patriot Act violates the Constitution by allowing unreasonable searches and seizures, violating separation of powers, and denying free speech, a federal judge ruled today in striking down parts of the revised legislation. Judge Victor Marrero said investigators must obtain court approval before ordering ISPs and phone companies to turn... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • FBI • privacy • ACLU • Patriot Act • US Constitution • civil liberties • search and seizure • constitutional law

Padilla Guilty of Aiding Terrorism

Dirty-bomb suspect faces life after 3-year detention

Aug 16, 07 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - A US District Court convicted Jose Padilla, a US citizen once suspected in a dirty-bomb plot, of conspiring to commit terrorism abroad by providing aid to Islamic extremists. Padilla, a former Guantanamo detainee who became symbolic of the Bush administration's aggressive legal arguments for detaining suspected terrorists, was not charged... More »

MORE ABOUT:
terrorism • Jose Padilla • trial • Guantanamo Bay • conviction • conspiracy • terrorist • Islamic extremism • dirty bomb • Patriot Act • al-Qaeda

Gonzales Alerted to
FBI Misdeeds

AG told of violations before testimony that no abuses occurred

Jul 10, 07 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The FBI alerted Alberto Gonzales that agents had violated privacy regulations at least six times in the weeks before he told a Senate committee that no abuses had occurred, the Washington Post reports. The 2005 and 2006 internal reports detailed numerous problems with FBI activities under the Patriot Act, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Alberto Gonzales • Department of Justice • FBI • Senate • national security letters • Senate Intelligence Committee • Patriot Act

White House
Hid Rove's Role
in US Attorney
Hiring

Leaked emails show cover-up of meddling

May 11, 07 2:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Karl Rove finagled a U.S. attorney post for his protégé Timothy Griffin, and the White House concealed his role in the appointment, the National Journal concludes from previously unrelease e-mails leaked to them. Griffin replaced fired attorney Bud Cummins; a Justice Department letter (later retracted) assured Congress Rove... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • Department of Justice • US attorney • Karl Rove • White House • Timothy Griffin • Patriot Act • scandal

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