Two Provisions of PATRIOT Act Unconstitutional: Federal Judge

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PATRIOT_ACT_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."

Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield sought the ruling in a lawsuit against the federal government after he was mistakenly linked by the FBI to the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in 2004.

The Patriot Act greatly expanded the authority of law enforcers to investigate suspected acts of terrorism, both domestically and abroad.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PATRIOT_ACT_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Will the wheels of justice move too slowly?!

This is a good sign that judges are not as beholden to the Bush Administration as the DOJ, in general. It will be interesting what their response will be...people should really follow Glenn Greenwald on Salon and here is a link to one of the foremost Constitutional scholars writing about the Bushies' abuse of power.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html

Doh!

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Senior 9/11 Bureau Chief, Analyst, Correspondent, Principle Investigator, Forensic 9/11ologist

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. — Abraham Lincoln

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny. — Robert Heinlein