The complete text of the UNITING AND STRENGTHENING AMERICA BY PROVIDING APPROPRIATE TOOLS REQUIRED TO INTERCEPT AND OBSTRUCT TERRORISM (USA PATRIOT ACT) ACT OF 2001 (from Department of Justice Web site)
Links to actions on the USA PATRIOT Act from the Library of Congress.
President Bush's web page about his position on homeland security.
John Kerry's web page about his position on homeland security.
From the Congressional Research Service, a report to Congress from Charles Doyle, Senior Specialist, American Law Division, Library of Congress, dated April 15, 2002. Provided online by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) "the oldest organization dedicated to ending the worldwide arms race and avoiding the use of nuclear weapons for any purpose." A shorter version is at http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RS21203.pdf
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
The EFF is "a nonprofit group of passionate people — lawyers, volunteers, and visionaries — working to protect your digital rights." Their position on the USA PATRIOT Act is summed up on their Web page: "The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy and democratic traditions in U.S. history." This Web page presents their viewpoint and includes further links and ways to get involved.
The DOJ web site promotes the USA PATRIOT Act. Their position is that "the Department of Justice’s first priority is to prevent future terrorist attacks. Since its passage following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Patriot Act has played a key part - and often the leading role - in a number of successful operations to protect innocent Americans from the deadly plans of terrorists dedicated to destroying America and our way of life."
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The mission of the ACLU is to protect
First Amendment rights for all citizens. The ACLU is non-partisan and their
position on the PATRIOT Act is that together with "many allies on the left
and right [we] believe that before giving law enforcement new powers, Congress
must first re-examine provisions of the first PATRIOT Act to ensure that is
in alignment with key constitutional protections."
American Library Association (ALA)
The ALA passed a resolution about the PATRIOT Act which is summarized in the following position statement: “The American Library Association (ALA) opposes any use of governmental power to suppress the free and open exchange of knowledge and information or to intimidate individuals exercising free inquiry…ALA considers that sections of the USA PATRIOT ACT are a present danger to the constitutional rights and privacy rights of library users.” Additional links to viewpoints mostly about impact on libraries are provided by Librarians Index to the Internet (LII) at http://lii.org/search/patriotact/ and a bibliography about libraries and privacy law is available at http://www.librarylaw.com/Patriotbib.htm
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
A grassroots organization, "The Bill of Rights Defense Committee encourages communities to take an active role in an ongoing national debate about the USA PATRIOT Act and other antiterrorism measures that threaten civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights." Includes list of more than 300 municipalities that have passed anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions.
CATO Institute Homeland Security page
The Cato Institute is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. that seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.
American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE)
ASNE memo on the Patriot Act II
TO: ASNE Officers; Freedom of Information
Chair; Executive Director
FROM: Richard M. Schmidt, Jr. and Kevin M. Goldberg
RE: The Effect of Patriot Act II on Newspapers
DATE: February 25, 2003
The ALA provides links to analyses and position statements of other organizations from this web page.
Thomson Wadsworth Releases Survey
Results on USA Patriot Act
Wednesday April 28, 9:30 am ET
Criminal Justice Experts Weigh In, Negative Sentiment Uncovered
BELMONT, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Thomson Wadsworth, a part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC - News; TSX: TOC - News) and a leading provider of higher education textbooks, including those for the criminal justice discipline today released survey results indicating that many of the nation's top criminal justice experts harbor deep concerns and negative views of the USA Patriot Act.
Federal judge rules part of Patriot
Act unconstitutional
Monday, January 26, 2004 Posted: 4:54 PM EST (2154 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a portion of the USA Patriot Act that bars giving expert advice or assistance to groups designated international terrorist organizations.
Brooklyn Law Professor Analysis
THE USA PATRIOT ACT AND THE US DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE: LOSING OUR BALANCES?
Professor Susan Herman, Brooklyn Law School
December 3, 2001
President Bush's 2004 State of the Union
Bush wants Patriot Act renewed
Last modified: January 20, 2004, 9:25 PM PST
By Declan McCullagh, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
President Bush on Tuesday evening called for the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, the controversial law that has expanded Internet surveillance powers for police and partially expires next year.
The entire speech is online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html
Hoover Institute: Uncommon Knowledge
Transcript of a television broadcast
of the Hoover Institute (Standford University)--a discussion of the PATRIOT
Act by Edwin Meese, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution; Former
Attorney General of the United States and Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director,
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
University of Washington libraries
Links to analyses and tips for further research about this topic.
The government documents department at the library of the Evergreen State College created this pathfinder which includes a nicely organized set of links and a Powerpoint presentation that gives an overview of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Links to analyses from national organizations.
Special Libraries Association portal
Impact, analysis, legal actions, PATRIOT II, and homeland security resources.
Wikipedia is a collective encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to; you can view the history of the entry and look at discussions about the topic. Includes extensive list of external links organizaed by topic.
NOW with Bill Moyers: PATRIOT II
The web page accompanying the February 2003 broadcast. Includes transcript of the broadcast and list of civil liberties links and articles.