Read: The Bill of Rights

Groups

• Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW)
• American Civil Liberties Union
• ACLU of Washington State
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee
• Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
• Concerned Citizens Against the Patriot Act (CCAPA - Seattle)
• The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

Full text of the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56)

• Full text in HTML (via US Govt. Printing Office web site)
• Full text in PDF format (400 kb - via ACLU-WA)

PATRIOT Act General Info

• The USA PATRIOT Act: A Primer
• "A Guide to the PATRIOT Act" (Slate) - A 4-part series of articles by Dahlia Lithwick and Julia Turner.
• ACLU:
  • Frequently Asked Questions about the USA Patriot Act
  • ACLU Fact Sheet on the USA PATRIOT Act and Other Government Acts (PDF)
  • Analyses of the impacts of the PATRIOT Act
  • Eroding Liberty: a List of Government Powers Expanded Since September 11 (PDF)
  • Prominent Conservative Voices Against the PATRIOT Act (PDF)
  • ACLU Fact Sheet on Section 215: How the PATRIOT Act Threatens Your Personal Records
  • ACLU Fact Sheet on Surveillance under the PATRIOT Act
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee:
  • A Guide to Provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and Federal Executive Orders that threaten civil liberties (48k PDF)
  • The Homeland Security Act: The Decline of Privacy; the Rise of Government Secrecy (PDF)
• PATRIOTWATCH.org - News, info and online resources.

Counter-Propaganda

• PATRIOT Act Website Creates New Myths (ACLU) - learn the facts about misleading claims Ashcroft and the Justice Dept. are making in support of the PATRIOT Act.
• PATRIOT Propaganda - The Justice Department's Campaign to Mislead The Public About the USA PATRIOT Act (ACLU) - a detailed report from the ACLU.
• Two Years After 9/11: Ashcroft's Assault on the Constitution (People for the American Way) - detailed report. Read online or download a PDF of the full report.
• Why Should We Oppose the PATRIOT Act? (PDF) - a 2-page flier by Global Exchange.
• Prominent Conservative Voices Against the PATRIOT Act (ACLU - 85k PDF) - even the law-and-order crowd opposes the PATRIOT Act.

Justice Department Inspector General reports - via the Federation of Atomic Scientists

• DoJ Inspector General Analysis of Agency Response to Treatment of Alien Detainees, September 5, 2003
• The September 11 Detainees: A Review of the Treatment of Aliens Held on Immigration Charges in Connection with the Investigation of the Septmber 11 Attacks, April 2003 (13.5 MB PDF file)
• Third Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act, on complaints alleging abuse of civil rights and civil liberties by Justice Department officials, DoJ Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, July 17, 2003.
• Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act (PDF), on complaints alleging abuse of civil rights and civil liberties by Justice Department officials, with a cover letter (PDF) from DoJ Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, July 15, 2002.
• Second Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act, on complaints alleging abuse of civil rights and civil liberties by Justice Department officials, DoJ Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, January 22, 2003.

The VICTORY Act - the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003 is essentially a re-packaged version of "PATRIOT Act II"

• LibertyThink.com Obtains New Draft of Orwellian "Victory Act" (ca. 9/8/03) - survey of contents and differences of this July 30 draft vs. the earlier June 27 draft (linked to below). Read the complete second draft.
• Earlier draft of the VICTORY Act (via LibertyThink.com)
• "GOP Bill Would Add Anti-Terror Powers" By Dan Eggen (Washington Post, 8/21/03 - via TruthOut.org)
• "Patriot Act II Resurrected?" (Wired News, 8/21/03)

"PATRIOT Act II" - The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 - secretly-prepared draft legislation intended to expand provisions under the USA PATRIOT Act.

• Secret draft text of "PATRIOT II" (Center for Public Integrity) - article plus downloadable PDFs of the entire leaked draft. (Alternate link to HTML version.)
• Atty. Gen. Ashcroft denies existence of "Patriot II" before Congress - testimony given a month after the draft leaked.
• Transcript: Bill Moyers interviews Chuck Lewis (PBS, NOW Feb. 7, 2003) - interview re: "Patriot II". Lewis is with the Center for Public Integrity, which obtained the secret draft.
• EFF Analysis of "Patriot II"
• ACLU: Section-by-Section Analysis of "Patriot II"

FISA Court - The FISA court meets in secret to approve national security surveillance warrants. The PATRIOT Act dramatically expanded the powers of the FISA court.

• Articles:
  • "The Secret Court" by Laura Poyneer (Open Source Politics, Sept. 4, 2003)
  • "Inside America's Secret Court" by Patrick S. Poole
  • "The Secret FISA Court: Rubber Stamping on Rights" by Philip Colangelo (CovertAction Quarterly, Summer 1995) - classic article exposing the court.
• FISA Frequently Asked Questions (EFF)
• EPIC Archive: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - info, overview, links.
• FISA - Official documents (via Federation of Atomic Scientists)
• FISA Annual Reports, 1996 - 2002 (DOJ Office of Intelligence Policy and Review) - one page letters stating how many warrants were approved.
• FBI Office of General Counsel: "What do I have to do to get a FISA?" (16 pg. PDF; updated Sept. 12, 2002) - internal FBI guidance obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act.

CAPPS II: Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II - secret airline passenger profiling system designed to comb multiple government and commercial databases to identify and stop supposed threats.

• How CAPPS II Works - chart explains the basics.
• PrivacyActivism.org: Focus on CAPPS - links numerous news articles about CAPPS II.
• Oppose the new airline passenger profiling system (ACLU)
• Don't Spy on Us - news and info
• BoycottDelta.com - Delta Airlines was to be a a guinea pig for a CAPPS II prototype, until this campaign shamed them into backing out. Still useful, with articles and info of note.
• "TSA system would dig up passenger info" (Federal Computer Week, 9/2/02) - news item from 2002 explains the basics of CAPPS II.
• New Notice Outlines Changes to CAPPS II System (TSA, 7/31/03) - government press release explaining CAPPS II.

TIA: Total Terrorism Information Awareness - a system of super-surveillance initiated by convicted Iran-Contra perjurer John Poindexter. TIA has since be de-funded by Congress and Poindexter has resigned in disgrace, but the government is still trying to find ways to implement some version of the program.

• EPIC's TIA Info Page - Extensive collection of documents, links, and background info.
• Overview of the Information Awareness Office (via FAS) - Remarks as prepared for delivery by Dr. John Poindexter, Director, Information Awareness Office of DARPA, at DARPATech 2002 Conference, Anaheim, Calif., August 2, 2002.
• "Outsourcing Big Brother: Office of Total Information Awareness Relies on Private Sector to Track Americans" - A December, 2002 special report by the Center for Public Integrity.
• TIA Contractors (EPIC) - Track future manifestations of TIA with these "Statement of Work" documents obtained through a FOIA lawsuit. The Statements of Work describe the project deliverables and timeline. Table shows companies, project names, date approved, and amount awarded (if applicable). Includes PDFs of relevant documents.