Protesting the PATRIOT ACT


The USA PATRIOT Act gives the government increased authority to wiretap your phone, monitor your e-mail and demand your medical, financial and student records from banks, vendors, doctors‚ offices, and libraries. Furthermore, it prevents anyone who is required to turn over your records from ever telling you or anyone else, even if the records turned up no wrongdoing.

And did you know that the latest version of the PATRIOT Act contains a new provision that can throw protesters like us in prison for 10 years for disrupting major events such as political conventions? (In 2004 CODEPINK took our anti-war message to the floors of both the Republican AND Democratic Conventions.)

Very soon Congress will have a chance to repair some of the PATRIOT Act's worst excesses. In December 2005, a bipartisan group of senators filibustered to stop the passage of a bill that would have reauthorized 16 expiring PATRIOT Act provisions. As a compromise, the provisions were extended for 5 weeks to give the officials more time to work out their differences. This temporary extension will run out on February 3, 2006.

That's why it's so critical to join CODEPINK and millions of allies throughout the U.S. in a National Call-in Day on Wednesday, January 25 to repudiate the excesses of the PATRIOT Act and government violations of our civil liberties!

The Senate version of the bill has much stronger protections of civil liberties and more meaningful opportunities to challenge unwarranted information requests and gag orders. Please call your representatives and senators, and ask them to support the Senate version of the bill. You can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or find your representatives and get their direct numbers by clicking here.

Talking Points:

Here are some specific points about the excesses we want to eliminate:

  • Prevent the FBI from "fishing" through our financial, medical, and library records by requiring a statement of fact linking persons whose records are sought to a terrorism investigation.
  • Allow businesses and libraries to pose a meaningful challenge to a FISA Court order or a National Security Letter demanding customer records.
  • In light of warrantless wiretapping of domestic email and phone communications authorized by the president, make sure there are sufficient privacy safeguards and oversight on all parts of the PATRIOT Act, involving the executive branch.
  • Protect our first amendment rights by removing a proposed provision that would allow stiff prison terms to people who protest-outside the designated areas--at events, such as political conventions, that have been labeled National Special Security Events.
  • Eliminate proposed new death penalties from the reauthorization.

For more information, contact the Bill of Rights Defense Committee at http://bordc.org/threats/call-in.php.

Sample letter:

Dear Senator/Representative:

I am writing in regard to the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act and to ask you to please support the Senate version of the bill in order to help ensure the protection of our civil liberties.

The Senate bill corrects several provisions of the PATRIOT Act that have been of deep concern to me. For example, it prevents the FBI from "fishing" through our private purchase, medical, and library records by requiring a statement of fact linking persons whose records are sought to a terrorism investigation. It allows businesses and libraries to pose a meaningful challenge to a FISA Court order or a National Security Letter demanding customer records. In light of warrantless wiretapping of domestic email and phone communications authorized by the president, it makes sure there are sufficient privacy safeguards and oversight on all parts of the PATRIOT Act involving the executive branch (which includes the Department of Justice and the FBI).

In addition, I am concerned that proposed new powers should not be added to the PATRIOT Act. Please protect our first amendment rights by ensuring the removal of a provision that would subject protestors who are not in designated protest areas at presidential appearances to prison sentences up to 10 years. Proposed new death penalties should also be removed from the reauthorization.

I urge your support for the Senate version of the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. I believe that it protects our civil liberties without jeopardizing our safety.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]