July 14, 2005
WHEREAS, a bi-partisan group of senators from across the political spectrum, political philosophy and geographic areas of the nation have introduced the SAFE Act, revising four controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act; and
WHEREAS, the SAFE Act would help restore protection of the U.S. civil liberties but would not interfere with the constitutionally permissible tools needed by law enforcement professionals, and
WHEREAS the SAFE Act revises four USA PATRIOT Act provisions: "sneak and peek" warrants, "John Doe" roving wiretaps, secret surveillance of business records including those of libraries and bookstores, and administrative subpoenas, and
WHEREAS, sneak and peek warrants under the USA PATRIOT Act allow law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant that will permit them to secretly enter one's home or business for search and seizure procedures and delay notification of the search for a "reasonable period" (with no definition of the term "reasonable"), the SAFE Act would limit the circumstances in which a search could be conducted with delayed notification to seven days with seven-day renewals of the delay available under court supervision, and would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to report regularly to Congress and to the public summarizing the number of times the DOJ has used delayed notification warrants, and
WHEREAS "John Doe" roving wiretaps are those wiretaps that do not name a specific person or place which means under the USA PATRIOT Act, law enforcement officers can obtain wiretaps which do not specify either the name of the suspect or the location where the wiretap is to be placed. This authority constitutes a virtual blank check for wiretap surveillance permission. The SAFE Act states that the FBI must either identify the suspect or submit a description of the suspect together with the nature and location of the facility or place at which the surveillance will be directed, and also provides that the surveillance may be conducted only when the suspect is present at the place to be wiretapped, and
WHEREAS, under the USA PATRIOT Act the FBI does not have to show probable cause of criminal activity in order to get a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court warrant to obtain secret surveillance of business records, including those of libraries and bookstores, the FBI must merely certify that the information sought is related to an ongoing investigation. Under the SAFE Act, the FBI would have to be able to articulate specific facts giving reason to believe that the suspect is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power to get a FISA court warrant for business record surveillance and the DOJ would have to report regularly to Congress on its use of this authority, and
WHEREAS, the "administrative subpoenas" or "National Security Letters" do not require judicial permission, but rather can be issued by an administrative agency with no court oversight under the USA PATRIOT Act, and law enforcement officials are permitted to issue National Security Letters to "wire electronic communication service providers," generally interpreted as telephone companies and the like. The DOJ interpretation includes libraries in this category, based only on the fact that libraries offer public internet terminals for patron use. The SAFE Act explicitly excludes libraries from the definition of wire and electronic communication service providers, and safeguards this protection by including a definition of the term "library," and
WHEREAS, a sunset clause is a portion of a statute that provides that the law or part of a law described in the sunset clause will expire automatically and cease to have the force and effect of law on a certain date unless Congress specifically renews it, and having a sunset clause attached to a controversial provision ensures congressional examination about whether a provision is effective and about the expected or unexpected burdens that the provision has imposed. The USA PATRIOT Act includes a sunset clause for a number of its provisions, but does not include such sunsets for other controversial provisions.
THEREFORE, the Town of Mamaroneck supports the use of sunset clauses as proposed in the SAFE Act for the provisions authorizing "sneak and peek" warrants, "John Doe" roving wiretaps, secret surveillance of business records including those of libraries and bookstores, and administrative subpoenas.
