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Senators Introduce PATRIOT Act, FISA Fixes
Daily Kos — This is the best news out of the Senate this year. Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced legislation to fix problems with surveillance laws that threaten the rights and liberties of American citizens.  The Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act would reform the USA PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance ...

Feingold Moves to Strike Material Support Law
Counterterrorism Blog — ... Under current law, federal prosecutors must show that an individual provided financial, logistical, or other resources to a terrorist organization, whether or not they intended the donation to support violence. In announcing this change, Senator Feingold explained that the revision would require “that a person must know or intend that support provided will be used for terrorist activity.” In reality, this amendment would eviscerate the statute—stripping the government of a valuable tool in the fight against the support structure of international terrorist organizations. The fact ...

Feingold, Bingaman Co-Sponsor PATRIOT / FISA fixes: JUSTICE Act
Corrente — ... The Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act would reform the USA PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance authorities to protect Americans’ constitutional rights, while preserving the powers of our government to fight terrorism. ...

JUSTICE ACT seeks to roll back PATRIOT, FISA damage
Open Left - Quick Hits's RSS Feed — ... The measure, according to Feingold's press release, would curtail, but not eliminate FBI National Security letters, limit "Sneak and Peak' warrants to the most serious crimes, tighten roving wiretaps, repeal telecom immunity under FISA, block "bulk collection' of communications' content, limit the governments usew of FISA data later determined to have been collected unlawfully, step up Congressional oversight, and tighten PATRIOT's definitions of "Domestic Terrorism' to not include peaceful civil disobedience. Also narrowed, the definition of "material support' for terrorism, so ...

As good as The Dodd (The Dodd abides)
Unqualified Offerings — ... I see that the good cheesehead* has introduced legislation to roll back certain egregious provisions of the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments .  I am quite confident that Congressional Republicans will see this as their best chance to curtail Hussein Obama’s atrocious liberty-destroying powers and work to speed its passage, and I am likewise confident that our fine President will live up to his civil libertarian rhetoric from the campaign trail and sign this bill. You can use the next 150+ comments to flame me about something. *It’s a term of affection from a fellow ...

Renewed Controversy Over Patriot Act
The Moderate Voice — ... Under current law, federal prosecutors must show that an individual provided financial, logistical, or other resources to a terrorist organization, whether or not they intended the donation to support violence. In announcing this change, Senator Feingold explained that the revision would require “that a person must know or intend that support provided will be used for terrorist activity.” In reality, this amendment would eviscerate the statute—stripping the government of a valuable tool in the fight against the support structure of international terrorist organizations. The fact ...

Reexamining the PATRIOT Act
ACS Blog — ... Ahead of this week's hearings, several senators introduced the JUSTICE Act to reform those powers granted in the PATRIOT Act and FISA Amendments Act, which are of greatest concern to civil libertarians. ...

Democratic Senators Propose Overhaul of Surveillance Laws
Open Left - Quick Hits's RSS Feed — ... A group of US Senators unveiled legislation Thursday aiming to strip telecommunications firms that took part in a hugely controversial Bush-era spying program of immunity from lawsuits. ...

Real Reform for the PATRIOT Act?
The American Prospect Articles — ... to telecoms that participated in the National Security Agency's extralegal program of warrantless wiretaps. Far more consequential for the privacy rights of Americans, however, are two surveillance powers that would finally be subject to reasonable limits by the ambitious JUSTICE Act , sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin: ...

Democratic Obamabots v. Civil Libertarians
Unqualified Offerings — ... Committee. At the beginning of the year, I had high hopes for the Patriot Act reauthorization process. We had just elected a President with a strong civil liberties record in the Senate….Democrats controlled the Senate by such a large margin that our advantage on the Judiciary Committee ended up at 12-7 after Sen. Specter switched parties. Even as recently as 10 days ago, I hoped to be able to support a reauthorization bill introduced by Sen. Leahy that, while narrower than the JUSTICE Act that Senator Durbin and I have championed, did contain several important and necessary ...

The Senate Fails to Make Meaningful Reforms to the Patriot Act
Brennan Center for Justice — ... Senators Feingold and Durbin had attempted to provoke a wider discussion of counterterrorism powers, challenging Congress to seriously debate the results of the often hasty expansion of surveillance authorities following 9/11. They introduced the JUSTICE Act, which proposed a variety of safeguards designed to protect Americans' records, homes, and communications against the expansive capacities granted governmental authorities under the Patriot Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance provisions. Such reforms would not only protect Americans' privacy ...

Dancing In The Dark
Obsidian Wings — ... an NSL. There have been two main bills introduced to "reform" the problems in these three sunsetting provisions of the "PATRIOT Act," as well as several other problematic aspects of both the "PATRIOT Act" and subsequent surveillance law revisions, including the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which you'll recall gave the telecoms immunity from lawsuits, and which Senator Obama voted for. One is the Feingold bill, the so-called "JUSTICE Act": U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin ...

DANCING IN THE DARK
Amygdala — ... 2005 of very funny business with an NSL. There have been two main bills introduced to "reform" the problems in these three sunsetting provisions of the "PATRIOT Act," as well as several other problematic aspects of both the "PATRIOT Act" and subsequent surveillance law revisions, including the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which you'll recall gave the telecoms immunity from lawsuits, and which Senator Obama voted for. One is the Feingold bill, the so-called "JUSTICE Act": U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jon Tester ...