Patriot Act Misinformation

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB109659214177033379,00.html>

The Wall Street Journal


 October 1, 2004

 REVIEW & OUTLOOK


Patriot Act Misinformation
October 1, 2004; Page A14

The American Civil Liberties Union has been spinning its victory in a
federal court in New York this week as a blow against the USA Patriot Act.
One typical headline: "Federal Judge Calls Patriot Act Secret Searches
Unconstitutional." An ACLU press release hails the decision as "a landmark
victory against the Ashcroft Justice Department."

Well, no. If reporters had bothered to read Judge Victor Marrero's
decision, they would have learned that the law he actually struck down was
a provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Section
2709 authorizes the FBI to issue "National Security Letters" to obtain
information from wire communications companies about their subscribers.
NSLs are issued secretly and the recipient is prohibited from notifying
anyone about the request.

As Judge Marrero noted in his ruling, "Section 2790 has been available to
the FBI since 1986." He concludes that there must have been "hundreds" of
NSLs issued since that time. The Patriot Act did amend Section 2790, but
that amendment has nothing to do with the part that Judge Marrero says is
unconstitutional.

One more thing: The Electronics Communications Act was not the invention of
John Ashcroft. It was sponsored by that famous and menacing right-winger,
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who said at the time that Section 2790
"provides a clear procedure for access to telephone toll records in
counterintelligence investigations."

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'