Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jul 2003
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2003 Associated Press
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/27
Author: Associated Press

JUSTICE DEPT CRITICIZES US HOUSE VOTE VS COVERT SEARCHES

WASHINGTON (AP)--The Justice Department raised strong objections Wednesday
to a surprising U.S. House vote against covert "sneak and peek" searches in
criminal investigations, a move that sponsors said reflected civil liberties
concerns raised by the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act.

By a solidly bipartisan 309-118 vote, the House struck the first serious
blow against the law, passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"I think the message that 309 votes tells me is that people have the
opportunity to look back and say, 'What have we really done?" said U.S. Rep.
C.L. "Butch" Otter, R-Idaho. "I think it's given unbridled authority to the
federal law enforcement agencies."

The Patriot Act strengthened government surveillance and U.S. law
enforcement powers, removed a barrier to the CIA and other intelligence
agencies sharing information with law enforcement officials and added a
number of provisions aimed at disrupting terrorism financing.

"Our success in preventing another catastrophic attack on the U.S. homeland
would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, without several of
the provisions of that act," FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate
Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Civil liberties advocates say there is a greater chance that government can
snoop on innocent people.

The measure sponsored by Otter would prevent federal dollars from being
spent to implement warrants that delay notification that a covert search is
being conducted. The USA Patriot Act established uniform national standards
for what are sometimes known as "black bag" or "sneak and peek" searches.

The law permits agents to search the home of a suspected drug dealer, or
plant a listening device in the car of a reputed mobster, or copy a computer
hard drive of a terror suspect, without notifying the suspect until a later
date. That keeps suspects from escaping, destroying evidence or tampering
with witnesses, for example.

The warrants must be approved by a judge and are permitted in limited
circumstances. The Supreme Court in 1979 ruled that "it is well established
that law officers constitutionally may break and enter" when such action is
the only way to execute a search warrant.

As of April 1, the Justice Department had obtained such warrants under the
USA Patriot Act 47 times for searches and 14 times for property seizures.
Extensions ranging from one day to 90 days have been obtained 248 times.

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the Otter amendment "would
have a devastating effect on the United States' ongoing efforts to detect
and prevent terrorism, as well as to combat other serious crimes."

The amendment, approved Tuesday night, was attached to the annual spending
bill for the Justice Department and other agencies, which passed the House
on Wednesday. The bill moves on to the Senate, giving the Bush
administration time to get it removed later this year.

Still, civil liberties groups said that the vote underscored growing concern
about the Patriot Act. They noted that three states -Alaska, Vermont and
Hawaii -and 142 local governments have passed measures opposing the act,
with some taking steps to prevent local officials from complying.

"Hopefully, this is the first trickle in a flood of Patriot fixes," said
Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's legislative
office in Washington.

The Otter amendment would have no effect on secret search warrants obtained
under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is aimed at agents of
foreign powers such as spies and terrorists. The FISA law was also expanded
and updated by the USA Patriot Act.
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