Patriot Act extended

[Phlegm]

from CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional leaders reached a deal Thursday to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act, the government's premier anti-terrorism law.

Under the deal, 16 provisions set to expire at the end of the year will be extended for four more years, Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced.

The controversial U.S. anti-terrorism law passed in the months after the September 11, 2001, attacks and expanded government surveillance powers. The deal marks Congress' first revision of the law.

"There's no doubt about the need for tools for law enforcement to fight terrorism both domestically and internationally," said Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who led negotiations on the Senate side. "But equally clearly there's been a need for refinement of the protection of civil liberties and civil rights."

Specter said the compromise bill was "not perfect" but "acceptable" and preferable to the alternatives -- the existing Patriot Act or no law at all.

Negotiations had been stalled for months because of concerns that some provisions may violate civil liberties and give the FBI too much power to probe deeply into people's private lives.

After working around the clock, Senate and House negotiators agreed to extend three controversial provisions for four years, instead of 10, which was a key stumbling block.

The provisions include the two most controversial elements -- secret FBI access to library and business records and roving wiretaps.

Roving wiretaps involve the use eavesdropping devices that prevent a target from evading law enforcement officials by switching phones or computers.

A "lone wolf" provision that sets standards for monitoring terror suspects who might be operating independently also survived.

Some congressional leaders were concerned that if the provisions were kept on the books for another decade, they would not have had an opportunity to review any possible civil liberties violations.

But the deal reached Thursday would force law enforcement to seek a court's approval before getting access to library and business records.

"Under existing law, a law enforcement agent could obtain these records, unilaterally, on a declaration of relevance," Specter said. "The conference report now requires a judge to review a statement of facts. And the court has to be satisfied that these records are relevant to a terrorism investigation."

Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat and the only senator to vote against the original Patriot Act in 2001, called the agreement "a major disappointment" and promised to do "everything I can, including a filibuster, to stop this Patriot Act conference report."

"Merely sunsetting bad law is not adequate," Feingold said in a statement released after the agreement was announced. "We need to make substantive changes to the law, and without those changes I am confident there will be strong, bipartisan opposition here in the Senate."

Other aspects of the law that allow suspects to be held without access to lawyers have prompted numerous legal challenges.

Lawmakers have said they are trying to find the nation's comfort level with expanded law enforcement power in the post-September 11 era -- a task that carries extra political risks for all 435 members of the House and a third of the Senate facing midterm elections next year.

[Yamori]

Sweet!!!

[mappatazee]

Yay!! I could not be more happy! I feel more secure now.

[Captain Insano]

Omg this is fantastic. The terrorists can't possibly attack us if we give up our freedom lol!@1


How they can actually extend this thing blows my fucking mind... We are no more safe than the day before 911... Which means: The fucking patriot act didn't do a godamn thing.

Fuck that shit.

The older I get the shittier my outlook is getting to any form of US Law Enforcement.