JUSTICE Act: a bill to restore the Bill of Rights to America – Boing Boing
Today, Senators Russ Feingold and Dick Durbin — along with eight other Senators — have taken the Administration up on its offer by introducing the JUSTICE Act, which would rein in the worst excesses of PATRIOT and last years FISA Amendments Act FAA. The announcement of the bills introduction, along with a fact sheet outlining the bills details, is here; the text of the JUSTICE Act is here the “JUSTICE”, if youre wondering, stands for Judiciously Using Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts”.The JUSTICE Act would renew two of the three expiring PATRIOT provisions, PATRIOT sections 206 John Doe roving wiretaps and 215 FISA orders for any tangible thing, but would also add strong new checks and balances to those provisions and to the PATRIOT Act in general, especially those provisions dealing with the governments authority to issue National Security Letters. If passed, the bill would also establish critically important protections for Americans against surveillance authorized under the FAA. Of particular importance to EFFs clients in the Hepting v. AT&T case and to the preservation of the rule of law, PROTECT would completely repeal the FAA provision intended to legally immunize telecoms like AT&T that illegally assisted in the National Security Agencys warrantless wiretapping program. Last summer when Congress passed the FAA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated his intention to revisit that law as part of the PATRIOT renewal debate, and were very glad that Senators Feingold and Durbin have kick-started that process.