44.493
Issues in Technology and Security
How have the Patriot Act and other anti-terror measures
affected civil liberties?
- FBI can now monitor public gatherings,
more closely scrutinize Internet usage, send undercover agents
into houses of worship without having clear prior evidence of
possible criminal activity. Set aside restrictions passed in
1976 to curb excesses of FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, such as infiltrating
civil rights groups and harassing civil rights leaders such as
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Continued debate about constitutionality
of these measures. "Civil liberties and privacy rights groups
...charge that the other new measures ignore the constitutionally
guaranteed rights of criminal suspects, such as protections against
unreasonable searches and seizures. Critics add that the measures
create a separate justice system for terrorism suspects who do
not have U.S. citizenship."
- "Legal scholars disagree
about which constitutional rights apply to noncitizens as well
as citizens. Broadly speaking, the Supreme Court has declared
that the right to due process of law applies to both citizens
and noncitizens. But questions of whether other rights apply
to noncitizens have been interpreted differently throughout U.S.
history. Many of these issues could ultimately be decided by
the Supreme Court." (Supreme
Court has ruled that both Americans and foreigners detained as
terrorists can challenge those rulings in US courts).
- "A Justice Department rule
introduced after September 11 lets the Bureau of Prisons monitor
attorney-client conversations whenever the attorney general finds
'reasonable suspicion'that the discussions might 'further or
facilitate acts of violence or terrorism.'
"Critics of the new rule note that attorney-client privilege
is one of the oldest and most important confidentiality privileges.
These critics maintain that listening in on attorney-client conversations
also violates the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and is thus
unconstitutional. But supporters disagree, noting that inmates
will be informed of the monitoring and that the content of conversations
will not be disclosed to prosecutors without an order from a
federal judge."
- Now easier for government to
use roving wiretaps (tap any phone that a suspect uses"
-- Council
on Foreign Relations, "Balancing Security and Civil Liberties"
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