Obama and the PATRIOT Act: Bad news and possibly some good news

Many mistakes were made during the George W. Bush administration in its misguided "war on terror". One big mistake was the USA PATRIOT Act. Rushed through Congress in the wake of 9/11, the Act was described by Amnesty International as "potent in its ability to erode basic civil and human rights."

So I was alarmed when I read a recent news story indicating that the Obama administration wants to extend three "key" provisions of the PATRIOT Act that are due to expire at the end of this year -- the John Doe roving wiretap provision, Section 215 or the "library records" provision, and the "lone wolf" provision.

That doesn't sound like change I can believe in!

Then I checked in with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for their take on it. The ACLU clarified for me that the Obama administration is actually "open to reforming those and other provisions."

On Monday, the Justice Department sent a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling for the reauthorization of those three provisions, but also expressing an openness to reforming those and other provisions.

So there may be some hope after all.

Senator Leahy has announced that his Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the PATRIOT Act on Wednesday, September 23.

Meantime, the ACLU will be pushing hard for the following reforms:

• Narrow the scope of the National Security Letter (NSL) authority, adding judicial oversight to all NSL requests.

• Reform the overly broad material support statute.

• Revisit the changes made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) last year in the FISA Amendments Act that gave the government sweeping and overbroad new surveillance power.

• Narrow the recent expansion of authorities given to FBI agents by the revamped Attorney General Guidelines that allow agents to conduct physical surveillance without suspicion.

• Expand oversight mechanisms such as audits by inspectors general and public disclosure requirements related to the PATRIOT Act and statutes that allow for surveillance of Americans.

Let's hope that they are successful.

Stay tuned for updates. Meantime, keep your fingers crossed for change.

>> Read the ACLU's September 15th news release on the subject.

>> Read the ACLU's report Reclaiming Patriotism and learn more about the three Patriot Act provisions up for expiration this year.