With the Patriot Act facing its just desserts little by little, eventually there won't be any of it left.
Oh no! Then who's gonna spy on all our bank transactions? Who's gonna make us sign a log every time we buy Sudafed? Who's gonna make the library turn over records of the books we borrow?
Now a federal appeals court has struck down the clearly unconstitutional gag provision of the Idiot Act. The gag rule prohibited folks who received "national security letters" from speaking out. These letters were usually demands for documents or notices that private records had been searched by the government.
Under the court's ruling, the government now has to go to court to get a gag order instead of just handing out gag orders like mind control drugs in a school office.
The Patriot Act provision that the court struck down clearly violated the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.
The court's ruling follows last year's decision that struck down Patriot Act provisions that unconstitutionally allowed the government to conduct searches without probable cause.
It remains to be seen how or even if the government will remedy the abuses that it's already carried out under the Idiot Act during America's lost decade.
(Source: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Court_sides_with_ACLU_strikes_down_1216.html)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Another Idiot Act provision struck down!
Posted by Bandit at 3:50 PM
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