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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (18533)	1/1/2003 2:22:36 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

Good gawd! Now you hang out with the likes of Duh-ray? I didn't realize that free association was no longer permitted. Since I'm so far behind the times, could you kindly provide a list of those I'm not permitted to associate with. jttmab

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (18533)	1/1/2003 6:44:16 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

This one is tooooo cooool. CONGRESS EXPANDS DEFINITION OF TERRORISM IN NEW LAW By Mindy Finn Nov. 16 -- When Congress passed anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, its provisions to expand search and surveillance limits attracted the attention of civil liberties groups, who argued that the bill gave law enforcement too much unchecked power. In a series of lesser-noticed changes in the same bill, Congress also broadened the definition of terrorism, giving the attorney general and secretary of State new power to designate people and groups eligible for expanded scrutiny by law enforcement. "This is needed in light of the Sept. 11 attack... No one thought we needed it before," said Victoria Toensing, who started the Justice Department's terrorism section during the Reagan administration. The bill President Bush signed Oct. 26 (HR 3162 -- PL 107-56), affected definitions related to terrorism in several ways: • A person who is a representative, but not necessarily a member, of a terrorist organization is considered a terrorist. A representative could mean any alien who uses their position of influence in their community to advocate support for terrorist activity or terrorist organizations. The representative must endorse terrorism "in a way that the secretary of State has determined undermines United States efforts to reduce or eliminate terrorist activities." • Raising money or providing other financial support to terrorists is defined as a terrorist activity when the funds are used to plan or carry out an attack. The support could include providing a safe house, transportation, communications assistance, false identification, weapons or training. An exception is allowed for if the person can demonstrate that "he did not know, and should not reasonably have known" that the support would promote terrorist activity. • Spouses and children of terrorists can be treated like terrorists themselves unless the "attorney general has reasonable grounds to believe [the family member] has renounced the activity." • The list of terrorist activities includes a threat, attempt or conspiracy to highjack or sabotage an aircraft, vessel or vehicle, or a violent attack on an internationally protected person or their liberty. Another clause widens the definition of terrorist activity to incorporate crimes committed with "the use of any weapon or dangerous device (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent" to endanger, directly or indirectly, public safety or to cause substantial damage to property. • The secretary of State and attorney general have the authority to label a group of two or more people as a terrorist organization if they determine that the organization provided support to further terrorist activity or engaged in at least one act of terrorism. • Activities committed abroad that would be considered terrorist acts if committed in the United States are considered terrorism. • Other offenses that were already federal crimes are now also considered terrorism, including arson and bombing of government property risking or causing death, acts of violence against mass transportation systems, assault on a flight crew with a dangerous weapon, killing or attempted killing during an attack on a federal facility with a dangerous weapon and harboring terrorists. Some legal observers think the expanded definitions go too far. David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, said that the law defines terrorist activity "so broadly that it includes garden-variety crimes, such as a domestic dispute in which a woman threatens her husband with a knife, or a barroom brawl in which an immigrant breaks a beer bottle and threatens another with it... Such individuals are now subject to mandatory detention on certification by the attorney general without any showing of danger to others or risk of flight." Cole continued, "It indulges in guilt by association, failing to distinguish between a person who sends blankets to a hospital associated with a group that uses force and someone who actually plants a bomb or hijacks a plane. We would do better to focus on those who commit and further terrorist acts." Toensing said she shared the concern that "every barroom brawl in Barcelona" could be considered a terrorist act. But she said that the new law grants the attorney general the discretion to keep such abuses from occurring. As for whether that gives the attorney general too much power, Toensing asked: "If not the attorney general, then who?" "We have the threat that [the terrorists] will do it again and again," she said. cq.com Maybe you could get Ashcroft to declare Ray and I a "terrorist organization". As a bonus, my children have not renounced me [that I know of], so you could get them also. I gave jla the link for TIPS reporting. See him for further info. jttmab