Scope of Patriot Act expands beyond the war on terrorism

It should probably come as no surprise that the USA Patriot Act, which was drafted and passed in haste in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is already being used by the Justice Department to pursue investigations that have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.
It is the nature of prosecutors to use whatever tools they have at their disposal to pursue crime, and the Patriot Act gave them a powerful tool, a tool that circumvents many of the protections the Founding Fathers envisioned in a free American society.
The New York Times reported Sunday that expanded powers to monitor electronic and voice communications that were provided for in the Patriot Act, ostensibly to give government agents the ability to protect the American people from terrorist plots, have been used to track swindlers, drug dealers, black mailers, money launderers and child pornographers.
A draft of the Patriot Act was presented by the Bush administration to Congress within 10 days of the attacks on the World Trade Center and it was passed in about six weeks. It reduces or eliminates the role of judges in ensuring that wiretaps installed by law enforcement are done legally and with sufficient justification.
Good enough for Mafia
Over a period of decades, the Justice Department managed to put hundreds of mobsters in jail and virtually destroy the power structure of the Mafia in some cities by first obtaining court approval for electronic surveillance. The court's job was to rein in overzealous prosecutors, to remind them that American citizens have a right to presume that their private communications are private.
Such strictures were deemed too restrictive for federal agents involved in the new war on terrorism. But now, the Justice Department is using a law designed to fight terrorism to investigate just about anything it pleases.
The Times reported that a guide to a Justice Department employee seminar last year on financial crimes stated: "We all know that the USA Patriot Act provided weapons for the war on terrorism. But do you know how it affects the war on crime as well?"
Expanding the powers of government investigators well beyond what Congress had intended when it passed the Patriot Act, endangers the freedom of the American people. Or, it could result in a backlash that leads to the revocation of even sensible portions of the Patriot Act, making terrorism investigations even more difficult.
True patriots should not want to see either of those things happen.
As Attorney General John Ashcroft continues his national tour aimed at even further expansion of the Patriot Act's surveillance and detention provisions, we would urge him to disavow the violence that is already being done to the spirit of the law.
The American people already feel themselves under siege from terrorists, they should not also feel under siege to an army of investigators who feel that they can spy on anyone, anytime and in any way -- in the name of patriotism.