More on Patriot Act II from Indymedia

[Mike Friedman <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>]

USA Patriot Act II--A$hcroft drafts secret sequel
by Charles Lewis and Adam Mayle 6:42pm Fri Feb 7 '03 (Modified on 5:20am 
Sat Feb 8 '03)
address: Center for Public Integrity

The Bush Administration is preparing a bold, comprehensive sequel to the 
USA Patriot Act passed in the wake of September 11, 2001, which will give 
the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic 
intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and 
simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information.
For additional information, watch the PBS program "Now With Bill Moyers" 
tonight at 9 P.M. EST. (local listings http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html) 
The show will also air an interview with Charles Lewis.
http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=502&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0 

Special Report
Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act

By Charles Lewis and Adam Mayle

(WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2003) -- The Bush Administration is preparing a bold, 
comprehensive sequel to the USA Patriot Act passed in the wake of September 
11, 2001, which will give the government broad, sweeping new powers to 
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, dated January 9, 
2003, of this previously undisclosed legislation and is making it available 
in full text 
http://www.publicintegrity.org/dtaweb/downloads/Story_01_020703_Doc_1.pdf 
(12 MB). The bill, drafted by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft 
and entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, has not been 
officially released by the Department of Justice, although rumors of its 
development have circulated around the Capitol for the last few months 
under the name of ?the Patriot Act II? in legislative parlance.

?We haven?t heard anything from the Justice Department on updating the 
Patriot Act,? House Judiciary Committee spokesman Jeff Lungren told the 
Center. ?They haven?t shared their thoughts on that. Obviously, we'd be 
interested, but we haven?t heard anything at this point.?

RELATED DOCUMENTS
The draft of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (12 MB)
The Office of Legislative Affairs ?control sheet? which shows that a copy 
of the bill was sent to Speaker Hastert and Vice President Cheney
Read the Justice Department's response to this report.

Senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee minority staff have 
inquired about Patriot II for months and have been told as recently as this 
week that there is no such legislation being planned.

Mark Corallo, deputy director of Justice?s Office of Public Affairs, told 
the Center his office was unaware of the draft. ?I have heard people 
talking about revising the Patriot Act, we are looking to work on things 
the way we would do with any law,? he said. ?We may work to make 
modifications to protect Americans,? he added. When told that the Center 
had a copy of the draft legislation, he said, ?This is all news to me. I 
have never heard of this.?

After the Center posted this story, Barbara Comstock, director of public 
affairs for the Justice Dept., released a statement saying that, 
"Department staff have not presented any final proposals to either the 
Attorney General or the White House. It would be premature to speculate on 
any future decisions, particularly ideas or proposals that are still being 
discussed at staff levels."

RELATED LINKS
For additional information, watch the PBS program "Now With Bill Moyers" 
tonight at 9 P.M. EST. (Check local listings.) The show will also air an 
interview with Charles Lewis.

An Office of Legislative Affairs ?control sheet? that was obtained by the 
PBS program "Now With Bill Moyers" seems to indicate that a copy of the 
bill was sent to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Vice President 
Richard Cheney on Jan. 10, 2003. ?Attached for your review and comment is a 
draft legislative proposal entitled the ?Domestice Security Enhancement Act 
of 2003,?? the memo, sent from ?OLP? or Office of Legal Policy, says.

Comstock later told the Center that the draft "is an early discussion draft 
and it has not been sent to either the Vice President or the Speaker of the 
House."

Dr. David Cole, Georgetown University Law professor and author of Terrorism 
and the Constitution, reviewed the draft legislation at the request of the 
Center, and said that the legislation ?raises a lot of serious concerns. 
It?s troubling that they have gotten this far along and they?ve been 
telling people there is nothing in the works.? 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.?

Some of the key provision of 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.

Section 301-306, ?Terrorist Identification Database?: These sections would 
authorize creation of a DNA database on ?suspected terrorists,? expansively 
defined to include association with suspected terrorist groups, and 
noncitizens suspected of certain crimes or of having supported any group 
designated as terrorist.

Section 312, ?Appropriate Remedies with Respect to Law Enforcement 
Surveillance Activities?: This section would terminate all state law 
enforcement consent decrees before Sept. 11, 2001, not related to racial 
profiling or other civil rights violations, that limit such agencies from 
gathering information about individuals and organizations. The authors of 
this statute claim that these consent orders, which were passed as a result 
of police spying abuses, could impede current terrorism investigations. It 
would also place substantial restrictions on future court injunctions.

Section 405, ?Presumption for Pretrial Detention in Cases Involving 
Terrorism?: While many people charged with drug offenses punishable by 
prison terms of 10 years or more are held before their trial without bail, 
this provision would create a comparable statute for those suspected of 
terrorist activity. The reasons for presumptively holding suspected 
terrorists before trial, the Justice Department summary memo states, are 
clear. ?This presumption is warranted because of the unparalleled magnitude 
of the danger to the United States and its people posed by acts of 
terrorism, and because terrorism is typically engaged in by groups ? many 
with international connections ? that are often in a position to help their 
members flee or go into hiding.?

[...]
http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=46082


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