Archive - 2005

December 30th

ACLU will provide cameras to tape police

December 29th

Medical privacy act a must-read

<!--StartFragment --> The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which is based in Arizona, is one of the few physician membership groups to speak out against the law.

Michael Ostrolenk, spokesman for the organization, said the Patriot Act requires a judge to sign a federal agent's request for information, but the agent doesn't have to explain what the information is for and the judge can't really ask, he said. Ostrolenk said that jeopardizes patient-doctor confidentiality, but he doubts many citizens know anything about the possible implications of the law for their own private files.

December 18th

Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?

<!--StartFragment --> Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups

Napolitano on PATRIOT reauthorization

December 15th

December 10th

Group warns bill contains national ID

Officials with Liberty Coalition say the bill, called the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act," ominously "creates a dangerous new national identity database system and firmly establishes the predicate for a new national ID card system."

December 8th

Senate must reject Cybercrime Treaty

<!--StartFragment --> An internationalist assault on the sovereignty of the United States and the privacy of U.S. citizens is currently awaiting action by the full Senate.

GOP Immigration Bill Includes National ID Language

An immigration reform bill moving quickly through the U.S. House of Representatives contains language requiring the Social Security Administration, Treasury Department and Department of Justice to study the concept of a machine-readable Social Security card with a photo ID.

November 24th

Fix the PATRIOT Act

Fix the PATRIOT Act

Congress has one last chance to fix the PATRIOT Act, and the crucial vote is coming up soon. With your help, Russ collected thousands of signatures and convinced the Senate to pass a modified version of the act that would remove some of the worst infringements on our rights and freedoms. Now we need to make sure the Senate version is the one that becomes law.

I hereby affirm:

I believe that the United States can vigorously fight terrorism while protecting the very freedoms that make us Americans.

I believe that certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act go too far in curtailing our basic freedoms and must be fixed.

I agree with Sen. Feingold's revisions that fix the most troubling parts of the act.