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Patriot Act threatens fundamental freedoms
guaranteed in the constitution
by Janet Kussart
The USA Patriot Act threatens the following rights guaranteed in the constitution:
First Amendment - Freedom of religion, speech, assembly and the press. (New attorney general guidelines allow FBI spying on religious and political organizations and individuals without having evidence of wrongdoing)
Fourth Amendment - Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. (Expands the ability of law enforcement to conduct secret searches, gives them wide powers of phone and Internet surveillance, and access to highly personal medical, financial, mental health, library, video, and student records with minimal judicial oversight.)
Fifth Amendment - No person to be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. (Allows FBI agents to investigate American citizens for criminal matters without probable cause of crime if they say it is for "intelligence purposes.")
Sixth Amendment - Right to a speedy public trail by an impartial jury, right to be informed of the facts of the accusation, right to confront witnesses and have the assistance of counsel. (8,000 Arab and South Asian immigrants have been interrogated because of their religion or ethnic background, not because of actual wrongdoing; American citizens suspected of terrorism are being held indefinitely in military custody without being charged and without access to lawyers.)
Eighth Amendment - No excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment shall be imposed. (Thousands of men, mostly of Arab and South Asian origin, have been held in secretive federal custody for weeks and months, sometimes without any charges filed against them. The government has refused to publish their names and whereabouts, even when ordered to do so by the courts.)
Fourteenth Amendment - All persons (citizens and non-citizens) within the U.S. are entitled to due process and the equal protection of the laws. (The press and the public have been barred from immigration court hearings of those detained after 9/11 and the courts are ordered to keep secret even that the hearings are taking place.)
Click here for details:
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/042703/opi_myturn1.shtml
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