Surprise! Controversial Patriot Act power now
overwhelmingly used in drug investigations
by
Radley Balko republished
from The Washington Post:
One of the more controversial provisions of the Patriot Act
was to broaden the “sneak-and-peek” power for federal law enforcement
officials. The provision allows investigators to conduct searches without
informing the target of the search. We were assured at the time that this was
an essential law enforcement tool that would be used only to protect the
country from terrorism. Supporters argued that it was critical that
investigators be allowed to look into the lives and finances of suspected
terrorists without tipping off those terrorists to the fact that they were
under investigation.
Civil
libertarian critics warned that the federal government already
had this power for national security investigations. The Patriot Act
provision was far too broad and would almost certainly become a common tactic
in cases that have nothing to do with national security.
But this was all immediately after the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, and there was little patience for civil libertarians.
The massive Patriot Act of course passed overwhelmingly, including the
sneak-and-peek provision, despite the fact that only a handful of members
of Congress had
actually read it. (Not to mention the public.)
Keep
reading the full story…
Chaninat and Leeds has a team of Thailand private investigators supervised by experienced lawyers to ensure evidence can be used in the Thai court of law.
