Patriot Act

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US Brands Refugees 'Terrorists', Denies Asylum

All armed groups considered "terrorists"

(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...

Patriot Act Treats Unruly Passengers as Terrorists

In-flight ruckus can draw felony conviction

(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...

Al-Qaeda Works Cheap, Stays Hidden
Al-Qaeda
Works Cheap,
Stays Hidden

Al-Qaeda Works Cheap, Stays Hidden

Cells dodge dragnet by avoiding traceable transactions

(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,...

Chavez Takes Over Intelligence Agencies

Extends domestic spying and requires citizens to be informers

(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 “a...

Taliban 'Narco Terrorist' Convicted in US Court

Afghan plotted to use drug profits to fight US

(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....

Facing Suit, FBI Drops Secret Order

Feds sought user's activity records from Internet archive

(Newser) - Facing a lawsuit, the FBI has withdrawn a secret order demanding that an Internet library turn over a user's records—only the third time the bureau has backed down from such a demand, known as a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...

Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years
Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years

Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years

Federal prosecutors will appeal for more prison time

(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,...

Fed Judge Rules Against Patriot Act
Fed Judge
Rules Against Patriot Act

Fed Judge Rules Against Patriot Act

Nixes two key provisions that allow secret search without probable cause

(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...

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

Patriot Act not enough, he tells lawmakers

(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...

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

Slate says GOP is perversely partisan

(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...

Judge: Parts of Patriot Act Unconstitutional

Revised legislation violates separation of powers, 1st Amendment

(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...

Padilla Guilty of Aiding Terrorism
Padilla Guilty of Aiding Terrorism

Padilla Guilty of Aiding Terrorism

Dirty-bomb suspect faces life after 3-year detention

(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...

Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds
Gonzales Alerted to
FBI Misdeeds

Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds

AG told of violations before testimony that no abuses occurred

(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...

White House Hid Rove's Role in US Attorney Hiring

Leaked emails show cover-up of meddling

(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...

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