Civil Liberties Groups Add to Lawsuits Against Justice Dept. Over SECRET FBI PATRIOT ACT POWER

[Segami]

:smoke: And to think after BushCo., we were promised renewed transparency by Obama


".....At a speech on the Google campus in November 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yVlPqeZwo Obama said he would use technology to make government more accessible to the public. And make sure the public has access to government information.

Sen. Obama also pushed for and co-sponsored legislation in late 2007 that beefed up the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s2488/show





" The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed suit against the Department of Justice in order to learn more about a controversial interpretation of a section of the Patriot Act.



Both civil liberties groups are seeking all records tied to Section 215 of the law, which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to require people to release any “tangible thing” pertaining to an investigation involving counterterrorism.



“Tangible things” could include anything from Internet browsing records to driver’s license numbers.



The plaintiffs claim the government has been using Section 215 to secretly collect information on people suspected of terrorism.



The New York Times is suing the Justice Department as well tofind out what the Obama administration has been keeping secret regarding the Patriot Act.



In May, when Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said, “I want to deliver a warning this afternoon: When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.” Earlier, he told Wired’s Danger Room, “We’re getting to a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the American government secretly thinks the law says.”



In October, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) added that the government’s use of “Section 215 is unfortunately cloaked in secrecy. Some day that cloak will be lifted, and future generations will ask whether our actions today meet the test of a democratic society: transparency, accountability, and fidelity to the rule of law and our Constitution.”



-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky


http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Civil_Liberties_Groups_Add_to_Lawsuits_against_Justice_Dept_over_Secret_FBI_Patriot_Act_Power_111029



.

[bananas]

1. k&r

"When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry"

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. I guess some of us were seers Sen Wyden.

We PREDICTED this.

[JoeyT]

3. As usual, "No one could have predicted"

except for all the people that did.

The civil libertarians and liberals were right. Again. Don't look for anyone to acknowledge it, though.