Virginia Fights Federal Govt Kidnapping of U.S. Citizens

Virginia’s New Anti-NDAA Detention Bill Turns the Table on Feds

by Kelli Sladick republished from Activist Post:

A bill introduced in the Virginia assembly would take the next step in stopping illegal federal kidnapping under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

Virginia stood alone and passed the first bill in the country addressing detention provisions written into the NDAA in 2012. That law forbids state agencies, in some situations, from cooperating with any federal attempts to exercise the indefinite detention provisions written into sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act.

HB2144, sponsored by Del. Benjamin L. Cline (R – House District 24), takes things two steps beyond simply refusing to cooperate with the federal agents in the event of indefinite detention in Virginia. This bill turns the tables and systematically creates the type of leverage and attention D.C. would not want public if it refuses to cooperate with the state of Virginia.

This legislation would require two things from the feds if it detains a U.S. citizen in the state of Virginia.

Keep reading…

Chaninat and Leeds attorneys are Thailand personal injurylawyers assisting national and international clients since 1997.

Police Use Patriot Act in Drug Investigations, not Terrorism

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.

Watch Video: Critics Expose Global Privacy Concerns in United Nations Anti-Terrorism Resolution

A new anti-terrorism measure aimed at suppressing the travel of terrorists was unanimously passed by the United Nations Security Council on September 24. RT correspondents Abby Martin and Marina Portnaya dissect the wording of Resolution 2178 and analyze the implications this measure could have on privacy rights on a globabl scale.

“Did the UN just pass the global Patriot Act?”

The criminal defense lawyers at Thai law firm Chaninat and Leeds are experts on Thailand criminal law, international criminal law, and matters of extradition.

National Security Versus Privacy Rights: FBI Facial Recognition System Fully Operational in U.S.

The FBI's biometric database system is fully operational and will be activated across the United States, according to Activist Post.

The FBI announced the launch of the Next Generation Identification system (NGI) on September 15, 2014. According to Activist Post, the NGI includes advanced finger printing technologies, facial recognition, and iris scans "that are collated into a central database for real-time sharing at all levels of law enforcement and government agencies."

Though the FBI states in its press release that the NGI is an “investigative tool" to help identify criminals via photo matching, Activist Post speculates that there is nothing to stop the FBI from cataloging the entire U.S. population.

Catching criminals often involves crossing national borders, though, and privacy concerns extend beyond the U.S. which has extradition treaties with over 100 nations. The NGI has already been used in at least one international case involving a U.S. fugitive who was hiding out in Nepal, reports Activist Post.

Though NGI is not currently known to be in use in Thailand, Thailand international airports already photograph all persons entering and exiting the Kingdom. Additionally, Thailand law enforcement agencies have had a robust relationship with U.S. law enforcement agencies for decades. Currently, Thailand is home to an FBI-sponsored international law enforcement academy. In the past 30 years under the Thailand-USA Extradition Treaty, 135 fugitives have been extradited from Thailand to the U.S.

These facts illustrate how easily the NGI could be initiated, not only in Thailand, but in other nations around the world.   

Read the full FBI biometric database story here.

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Related Documents:
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Thailand Extradition Legal Counsel

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