New Patriot Act Provision-demonstrators hauled to jail on felony charges

[kpete]

FOXNEWS.COM : POLITICS
New Patriot Act Provision Creates Tighter Barrier to Officials at Public Events
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

WASHINGTON — A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any "special event of national significance" away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.

Sen. Arlen Specter , R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sponsored the measure, which would extend the authority of the Secret Service to allow agents to arrest people who willingly or knowingly enter a restricted area at an event, even if the president or other official normally protected by the Secret Service isn't in attendance at the time.

The measure has civil libertarians protesting what they say is yet another power grab for the executive branch and one more loss for free speech.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183147,00.html

[rfranklin]

1. Remember when Clinton took on freepers in the audience...

and actually said "let them speak?"

[chemenger]

11. Yea! I remember that.

That was back when we had a real presidential President. Now we have the Il Duce wannabe.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. that's because Bill was not a tyrant

Tyrants are insecure by nature... I'm no psychologist but it looks like feelings of sexual inadequacy are at the root of the problem. King George is much like Hitler and Napoleon.

[salin]

2. More from the "turn Americans viciously against other Americans"

party.

[EST]

3. No matter what the uninitiated may presume,

Arlen specter is NO friend of democracy.

[juliana24]

6. Specter is a fraud, just like *!

[formercia]

4. Felons can't own guns

one more way they have you.

[juliana24]

9. A felony can endanger your job prospects as well.....

.......many companies won't touch a person with a felony, and its perfectly legal to discriminate against them in employment matters.

Specter is a fool who should have been thrown out long ago.

[wallwriter]

5. Welcome to Communist China

Maybe we should call it the Tianamen (sp?) Square rule.

[The2ndWheel]

7. No

Capitalist America.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

13. right

students and citizens in china have guts... people in amerika are afraid to stand up for their freedoms... instead of protesting here, we sit around and discuss reasons NOT to protest... In China they want freedom... in amerika we don't care.

[ComerPerro]

8. Damn, they are really good at phrasing. You gotta admire that

Think of this like the whole wiretapping issue. The Republicans spin it as "We need to spy on terrorists to protect America", to imply that they will only use the wiretaps to spy on conversations with Al Qeada or other terrorist operatives. Of course, they fail to mention that the administration is also free to spy on anyone else they choose to, without disclosing that information.

This is the same thing.

Republicans will defend this by saying "Well, it makes sense. People have the right to protest and still have the right to free speech. They just don't have the right to be in restricted, secure areas".

But, what happens when any area within half a mile of the President is declared a secure area? That might seem extreme, but it illustrates how they could use this measure to arrest dissenters and charge them with a felony.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

14. soon all of Amerika will be

a "secure area" but still we wait, still we discuss, still we don't care enough to take action in NON-secure areas.

[greekspeak]

10. "The eastern seaboard is a 'special event of national significance'"

That's all the have to say. That's it. Hell, they could have "The Year of the Patriot" celebration for America and make ALL protest a felony. The way the law is worded, you better beleive it. Goodbye freedom. Hello Scalito.

[Ezlivin]

15. Let them eat cake n/t