The Threat to Civil Liberties
Here's a synopsis of why civil libertarians are uneasy:
The U.S.A. Patriot Act has conferred huge concentrations of power on the executive branch.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has made it easier for the federal government to access personal and business records, and relaxed authorization of Internet surveillance and wiretaps.
Hundreds of deportation hearings have been held in secret by the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- without a jury and without access by the defendants to legal counsel.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has given the Justice Department authority to monitor talks between detainees and their lawyers, without a court order -- despite constitutional guarantees of an unimpeded right to counsel.
Then there is the Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS) that would have created about 11 million informants -- such as mail carriers, utility employees and others with unique access to private homes. Their mission was to help the Justice Department build yet another database containing names of persons not charged with any wrong doing.
And now, there is Poindexter and his Total Information Awareness Program which would create a huge database of our personal and financial records.
No wonder it's 1 AM and we're still up.
