05/05 News

 "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin
 Repeal the US PATRIOT Act or bring in more oversight and checks and balances. Fortunately some of the worst articles have sunset or expired, but through re-authorizations, in 2005 and 2006, has kept it alive still. The precedents suspends many liberties and freedoms we assume when dealing with law enforcement agencies and are crimes against our rights bestowed on us by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
 It is not so far fetched, if when dealing with local law enforcement there is reasonable suspicion of terrorism, flags are immediately sent up to the FBI. After this point an American citizen cannot immediately depend on habeas corpus; the difference hinging on the terms of reasonable and probable. Reasonable is subjective and relies upon who is looking at what. Probable is grounded in reality and evidence.
 This has roots, in May 2004 Steve Kurtz was held for 22 hours in custody without charge and without access to legal counsel. What caused this? Unfortunately, Mr. Kurtz’s spouse had expired of a heart attack and he reported this to the local police, standard procedure. The responding officers saw biological equipment and Petri dishes inside the residence, with this as a suspicion reported it to the FBI. And instead of starting an investigation, which would have alerted their office that Mr. Kurtz is an artist specializing in the biological sector, Mr. Kurtz was apprehended, his house condemned as a possible health risk, and impounded computers, manuscripts, books, and equipment to be analyzed. All because of reasonable suspicion of bioterrorism, but not probable.  
 There was no evidence of course and he couldn’t be charged with bioterrorism, but, vindictive, he and his consultant were charged with mail fraud and wire fraud, in July 2004. Mr. Kurtz was released from these charges on April 21, 2008 because Judge Richard Arcara ruled it, “insufficient on its face”.
 The point to this is that at no point was there probable cause and/or suspicion, and certainly n cause to torment a person’s life for four years.
 The handlers of the government reins have changed in this time, but their policies have not. In February 2010 the current administration determined that as citizens we cannot expect reasonable privacy where we are or have been in relation to our cell phone and usage.
 It is warrant less for law enforcement agencies to get this information from a cell phone provider and the user does not have to be notified of it. So what this means is we are not protected by the Fourth Amendment, wherever we go or online is open to the government. They do not have to prove probable cause or suspicion for need of this information, just that they need and want it.
 Again, we need to take control of the government and limit its scope into our lives, we definitely need change as it was professed back in 2007. We in fact need broad sweeping social change, but from what we have received so far, I personally don’t see that we will be getting that.