2 Patriot Act provisions ruled unlawful!

[Zimzum]

:thumbsup: Now to strike down the rest of it along with the Military commision act.

2 Patriot Act provisions ruled unlawful
By William McCall, Associated Press Writer | September 26, 2007

PORTLAND, Ore. --Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."

Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield sought the ruling in a lawsuit against the federal government after he was mistakenly linked by the FBI to the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in 2004.

The federal government apologized and settled part of the lawsuit for $2 million after admitting a fingerprint was misread. But as part of the settlement, Mayfield retained the right to challenge parts of the Patriot Act, which greatly expanded the authority of law enforcers to investigate suspected acts of terrorism.

Mayfield claimed that secret searches of his house and office under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act violated the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure. Aiken agreed with Mayfield, repeatedly criticizing the government.

"For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success. A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised," she wrote.

By asking her to dismiss Mayfield's lawsuit, the judge said, the U.S. attorney general's office was "asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. This court declines to do so."

Elden Rosenthal, an attorney for Mayfield, issued a statement on his behalf praising the judge, saying she "has upheld both the tradition of judicial independence, and our nation's most cherished principle of the right to be secure in one's own home."

Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said the agency was reviewing the decision, and he declined to comment further.

Mayfield, a Muslim convert, was taken into custody on May 6, 2004, because of a fingerprint found on a detonator at the scene of the Madrid bombing. The FBI said the print matched Mayfield's. He was released about two weeks later, and the FBI admitted it had erred in saying the fingerprints were his and later apologized to him.

Before his arrest, the FBI put Mayfield under 24-hour surveillance, listened to his phone calls and surreptitiously searched his home and law office.

The Mayfield case has been an embarrassment for the federal government. Last year, the Justice Department's internal watchdog faulted the FBI for sloppy work in mistakenly linking Mayfield to the Madrid bombings. That report said federal prosecutors and FBI agents had made inaccurate and ambiguous statements to a federal judge to get arrest and criminal search warrants against Mayfield

Zimzum Reviewed by Zimzum on 09-27-2007. 2 Patriot Act provisions ruled unlawful! :thumbsup: Now to strike down the rest of it along with the Military commision act. 2 Patriot Act provisions ruled unlawful By William McCall, Associated Press Writer | September 26, 2007 PORTLAND, Ore. --Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Rating: 5

[killerweed420]

Great news. I have zero respect for any legislative represnetitive that voted to pass the Patriot Act.That includes Hillary.

[miley]

The Patriot act is lame and is just an attempt to take our freedoms away slowly one by one. Glad to see that not everyone in the government is corrupt.

[Th3 sand m4n]

THANK GOD and here i thought our government was going to take every freedom away from us in the next 20 years haha

[ntcrawler]

Woot!

[deadfan420]

It's a good step in the right direction. Although I still won't be completely satisfied until Bush's dumbass is dragged into court in handcuffs and a jumpsuit. Actually, no, that's too easy. Let him sit in a jail cell for a couple years on suspicion of terrorism and deny him the right to a lawyer and a speedy trial.