I recently signed my publication, The Multiracial Activist, on to a coalition letter to all Members of Congress opposing the latest assault on civil liberties – PATRIOT Act II. An excerpt is below:
The draft bill contains a multitude of new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence gathering powers, many of which are not related to terrorism, that would severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights, as well as disturb our unique system of checks and balances. If adopted, the bill would diminish personal privacy by removing important checks on government surveillance authority, reduce the accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy, expand the definition of “terrorism” in a manner that threatens the constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and seriously erode the right of all persons to due process of law.
We encourage you to make clear to the American people that you would not support such legislation, or any other legislation unnecessarily expanding the powers the government has already obtained in the USA PATRIOT Act. Instead, we recommend that you ask the Administration to provide Congress and the public more information about its use of the powers already granted in the USA PATRIOT Act.
The text of the letter is available here.