Forwarded from an E-mail I got.

The Congress is about to extend the Patriot Act which was passed after 9/11.  While some investigative authority is necessary to combat terrorism, the Congress has proposed to eliminate all reasonable protections to citizens not under suspicion of illegal or threatening activities.  This bill will be passed before Congress breaks for Christmas.  Specically, the new version of the bill authorizes the government to "sneak warrant" your private home and emails without any notice to you even after the fact and to do so even if you are not under suspicion of any illegal or dangerous activity.  Please read the letter I have sent to our Nevada representatives.  If you agree with it, please fell free to use any part of it to tell our representatives what you think. The Patriot Act now before you create an unacceptable breach of the basic principles espoused by the Founders in the Fourth Amendment:  "The right of the propel to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and affects, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." The bill was originally written in haste in a reactive, not a proactive mode at the behest of over-zealous bureaucrats in response to the events of 9/11.  That abuses are inevitable is already supported by the fact that FBI "sneak warrants" have already increased by 100-fold.  As currently presented, the bill is a significant step in moving towards George Orwell's vision of intrusive government. Please oppose any attempt to pass it in its present form and please support your colleagues who labor to modify it to provide the protections we all need, particularly with regard to the unacceptable proposal to apply the searches to persons who are not under suspicion of traitorous or threatening activity. Please act to uphold the spirit of the founding fathers.

I do believe it was already passed.........

There was an article last week about the agreement concerning passage.

Do you really think that constitution or not that they do not already do such things if they feel it necessary.

I have worked with the security services in the UK and even though ilegal it happens more often than you would like to think even though any evidence gained cannot be used at trial.

All this Act does is alow the data from these searches to be used in the open instead of just background leads in the investigation.

If the brain surgeons in Washington think the Patriot Act is making America any safer they really need to put their hands in the air and slowly step away from the crack pipe.

What we need to do is be prepared and take care of ourselves and our families and not rely on the government to nanny us during a disaster (New Orleans is a perfect example of government gone wild). Don't think that at any given moment terrorists can't strike when and where they want, on our soil, when we are least expected. September 11th, 2001 took five years in the making and it was loosely planned by a bunch of beer drinking buddies. Just think what a tight plan can do if it is carried out by real thinkers.

There are hundreds of terrorist cells that have been in this country long before 9/11 just waiting for the right moment to strike. And when they do strike again the powers that rule us will become even more stringent in their efforts to strip us of our rights under the guise of "public safety."

All the Patriot Act does is allow Big Brother to snoop in your computer, your home, your business, your bank account, your reading material (at the library), deny you flight status and trail you without your knowledge. And God forbid you say something in mixed company that sounds like a "Terrorist Threat," you can be hauled away under "The Act" and held indefinately without being charged or represented by counsel.

Yea, I feel safer......

Quoted:
And when they do strike again the powers that rule us will become even more stringent in their efforts to strip us of our rights under the guise of "public safety."

All the Patriot Act does is allow Big Brother to snoop ..............

Now THAT'S the part that really sucks. I am of the opinion that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and these are no more than "convenience" laws; actually encouraging laziness and lack of due diligence by LE................

The patriot act, sat in the drawer for years to be brought out and voted on before anyone knew what was in it.  

I love the way the government promises security but knows it cannot delever on anything except the promise of corruption and wishing the constitution would just go away.  ALA New Orleans.  
Those people dependant on the will starve.

I can say the patriot act is not all bad, but with the other loss of rights on a bit by bit basis I do not like the erosion of the rights.  Either the constitution is the supreme law of the land or it is not.  The federal and state governments have a hard time making up their minds.

I agree,  I sent Harry Reid a strong letter about the Patriot Act and the NSA domestic spying.  

Both of these are not new issues.   I was in the Army during the early to mid 70's.  The Army kept S-2 intel files on all dissidents that they might meet performing riot control duty.  Most people are not aware that these files were in use.  A letter came down from DOD and we destroyed all of them locally.  The files were delivered to the battalion/squadron level.  I was in an armored cavalry unit.  To my knowledge they were all destroyed.

There is a case that indicated that this is not legal (NSA Domestic Spying) based on my experience in the Army.

Hang on to every right that you have.

CPTKILLER
Henderson, NV

It is harder to get a federal search warrant or wire tap (pre Patriot Act).

No matter what state authorities did, the feds would hold the acts to the higher fed standard and the liberal judges were denying the cases.

The Patriot Act opened more doors for the local investigations than anything else. Sure, it is used for terrorist related criminal organizations (some of which are homegrown), but the normal criminal investigations now had an extra tool which allowed further searching with lower requirements than the search warrant or wire tap.

The usefulness of the Act was for federal investigations only....the only way local LE was involved is if they were part of a federal task force.

Due to my job, I like certain aspects of it, but the overall intrusiveness is a direct violation of our rights and needs to be eliminated.

There are certain aspects which LE uses and could continue on, without being so broad.