News
Patriot Act Provisions Regarding Searches Ruled Unconstitutional
By Matt Squire
printA federal judge ruled on Wednesday that certain sections of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow law enforcement agents to conduct searches and surveillance without showing probable cause. Judge Ann Aiken of U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, ruled that Patriot Act provisions that broadened the scope of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants violated Fourth Amendment provisions against unreasonable searches and seizures. FISA warrants, which typically are issued to monitor or search individuals being investigated for international terrorism against the U.S. can be used by law enforcement agents to access bank records. The ruling was the...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
A U.S. lawmaker is calling on the Obama administration to restrict how federal investigators use a controversial subpoena to obtain financial and other records, echoing a bill that U.S. officials have voiced support for.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a Senate-approved bill that would pressure foreign financial institutions to disclose their U.S. clients and extend government subpoena powers of financial records.
A U.S. House of Representatives panel approved a measure Thursday that would impose an expiration date on the availability of emergency subpoenas used to obtain telephone and financial data.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Thursday that would potentially discontinue use of a controversial emergency law enforcement subpoena by 2012.
The FBI has yet to resolve problems with how it uses special subpoena authorities granted under the Patriot Act, according to the U.S. Justice Department's Inspector General.
The subpoenas allow agents to obtain data from institutions for terrorist and spy cases without external vetting.
Many bank employees can't differentiate between SAR-related and other information requests they receive from law enforcement agencies, regulators and other financial institutions. As a result, some hinder financial investigations by ignoring the requests.
A March report on national security letter subpoenas stated that some companies provided excessive information about their customers during terrorist investigations.