Reviewing the Patriot Act

By David Sirota

This article appeared in the July 11, 2005 edition of The Nation.

June 23, 2005

Permanent Minority. A group of Senate Democrats, including Jay Rockefeller, supported legislation in the Intelligence Committee that expands the Patriot Act to allow the government to "subpoena records without the approval of a judge or grand jury."

In the print edition, this item appears as part of the feature "In Fact..."

Toward the Majority. Every Democrat except Oklahoma Representative Dan Boren and two absentees voted for a pro-privacy amendment by Bernie Sanders that prevents the FBI from using the Patriot Act to obtain citizens' library or bookstore records without a proper warrant. Because of that unity, the amendment passed.

About David Sirota

David Sirota is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His newest book is The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington (Crown). more...
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