Pass the JUSTICE ACT, not the PATRIOT ACT !
THe Pen
A group of Senate Democrats led by Russ Feingold (WI) and Dick Durbin (IL) have proposed the Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools in Counter-terrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act, a bill that would introduce stronger safeguards and higher standards of judicial oversight for surveillance activity. It aims to reform the most abusive characteristics of the PATRIOT Act and would also roll back a controversial provision of the FISA Amendment Act that granted telecom companies retroactive immunity for their participation in the Bush administration's extralegal warrantless surveillance program.
Senator Feingold says that the goal of the act is to ensure that surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities are properly empowered while guaranteeing that rights are respected and investigative privileges are not misused. The proposal is broadly endorsed by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. But in order for it to pass, WE THE PEOPLE must speak out to demand it.
Justice Act Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1006.php
And after you submit this action page, please take a moment to listen to a bit of the dramatic new play for peace, "It's Up To Us Alone", featuring an extraordinary performance by Ed Asner, which will have it's worldwide broadcast premiere on Oct. 16 on KPFK, the 115,000 watt Pacifica station in Los Angeles. We are hearing from radio stations from literally all over the English speaking world that want
to participate in this debut event. But you don't have to wait. You can hear the preview and reserve your own copy of the first pressing audio CD, no donation required, we'll even send you one for free, if you just go to the page below now.
Peace Play CDs: http://www.peaceteam.net/play.php
And remember, besides the regular action pages we have many other ways to make it ridiculously easy for you to speak out. Why not try out our new phone call to Congress blog, where you can make notes of what our representatives in Congress say to YOU, when you call them on the phone.
Justice Act Phone Blog: http://www.peaceteam.net/lobby.php
And here are some "Easy policy points" (also linked to from the page above) you can make when you make that call:
The National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the PATRIOT Act is one area in particular where the JUSTICE Act would institute new safeguards. PATRIOT Act allows federal law enforcement agents to use an NSL, instead of a court order, to obtain private records. Civil liberties advocates fear that the lack of appropriate judicial oversight applied to NSLs creates a very high risk of abuse.
The JUSTICE Act mandates use of the "least intrusive means" of information collection. It imposes limitations on the process that law enforcement agencies use to gain expedited emergency access to information. It also establishes new tracking and reporting requirements to ensure that NSL usage will receive a higher level of Congressional scrutiny.
It will remove the retroactive immunity grants that were given to the telecom companies that participated in the NSA warrantless surveillance program. The immunity grants have prevented the
telecommunications companies that participated in this patently unlawful program from being held accountable in court for their violations of law.
The Patriot Act's overbroad definition of domestic terrorism includes acts of civil disobedience by political organizations. The JUSTICE Act limits the definition of terrorism to offenses that are defined as domestic terrorism, so that acts of civil disobedience are not considered terrorist acts.
And here is the one click Facebook page for this action.
Justice Act Facebook Action:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum1006
And the Twitter reply to send is
@cxs #p1006
How much easier could it possibly get??
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
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