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First Patriot Act Challenge Filed by ACLUThe American Civil Liberties Union made the first legal challenge to the USA Patriot Act July 30, claiming that section 215 of the law violates citizens’ and residents’ rights to privacy, due process, and free speech by allowing the FBI to search library, business, and bookstore records in terrorist investigations without publicly disclosing that it has done so.“Ordinary Americans should not have to worry that the FBI is rifling through their medical records, seizing their personal papers, or forcing charities and advocacy groups to divulge membership lists,” said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson. Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said in a written statement that section 215 has “a narrow scope that scrupulously respects First Amendment rights, requires a court order to obtain any business records, and is subject to congressional reporting and oversight on a regular basis,” the Washington Post reported July 30. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of six Arab and Muslim-American community groups who believe they have been targets of investigation, follows increasing objections to the act from advocacy groups, local governments, and federal legislators. A week earlier, the U.S. House of Representatives blocked a proposal by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to halt searches of libraries and bookstores under the law. Posted August 4, 2003. |
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