Groups Criticize PATRIOT Act Action
Privacy watchdogs on Thursday criticized the Senate Judiciary Committee's passage of legislation that would reauthorize expiring portions of the USA PATRTIOT Act, saying the version approved by the panel did not go far enough. The Center for Democracy and Technology argued the Obama administration secured changes to the bill that diminished some of the civil liberties safeguards initially proposed by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and opposed more sweeping changes that could have bolstered Americans' constitutional rights.
CDT was particularly disappointed in the defeat of an amendment that would have protected privacy by raising the standard for issuing administrative subpoenas known as national security letters. "As a result, NSLs will continue to be used to obtain sensitive records about people who are two or three steps removed from the target of an investigation," CDT senior counsel Gregory Nojeim said. Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office called the action "a missed opportunity."
Read full coverage of the Judiciary Committee's mark up in CongressDaily's PM Edition here (subscription required).
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